The Murder of Port Royal
by Jillvalentine44
Summary: Jack and Celeste's life is going great until they find out that a good friend of theirs is killed. This disrupts their life in horrible ways. They must now try to solve the murder no matter what they have to do. 4 in a series.
1. Chapter 1: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

HEADS UP: This is #4 in a series! If you wish to read the other JackCeleste fics, please go to my bio page and click on the stories from there. This is the order: The Bounty of Captain Bartholomeu Santara, The Gems of Roslynn, The Capture of Thomas Black, then this one! Please read!

SUMMARY: Jack and Celeste's life is going great until they find out that a good friend of theirs is killed. This disrupts their life in horrible ways. They must now try to solve the murder no matter what they have to do. #4 in a series.

By the way: DAFTLIKESPARROW (I love you, man!) says that this is my best work! yayyyy!

HELLO, EVERYONE!! I'm back! With #4! Yayyy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Please review!! I love you all!!

Disclaimer: I am in no way connected with Disney or Pirates of the Caribbean or Johnny Depp as much as I wish, it is not true! Don't sue me!

Chapter 1: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Normal life continued on the Black Pearl for a year and two months, its crew laid low in Port Royal, taking a bit of a break from adventurous pirate life. Jack and Celeste Sparrow had never been happier and loved married life. Audra Giles and Angelina Price had gone back to Rosalia after thanking Jack and Celeste for all the adventures and experiences. They were now rich enough to get their own houses and a ship of their own (of which they each paid half for), so they could visit as often as they liked. Unfortunately, it was easy to get caught up in relaxing life, and it had been a long time since they had visited.

Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann had gotten married a few months previous, and had moved into a house of their own which they bought with the money they'd acquired on their adventures.

Life was the same great thing for a while, until one day when something happened that made life greater and changed the way of life on the Black Pearl.

Celeste looked around the table at breakfast, searching for the right food.

"We don't have any bananas…" she said.

"Well, we can go an' get some later." Jack told her casually.

"Later?" she asked. "My meal is ruined. I must have a banana to go with this."

"'ow 'bout I finish eatin' an' we can go into town an' get some, savvy?"

"Fine, I'll just starve until then." she stated bitterly.

He looked at her, feeling she was acting very odd. "Well, alrigh', love, I'll… go to the market an' get some for you."

"Ohh, I-I'm sorry…" she replied, tears coming to her eyes. "I'm being so rude… I didn't mean it…"

"No, trust me, love, it's perfectly alrigh'." he assured. "I'll be back in a little while."

"It's fine?" she asked, tears still in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, sweetheart." he replied.

"Oh… Okay, thank you." she said sweetly. He stood up and started to leave. "Oh, and get some green peppers to go with that. And some codfish. Yes, that sounds good."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the strange combination of food, but continued to the door anyhow. He bid her goodbye and left for the market.

A little while later, he returned to the ship with all the things Celeste had asked for. He looked for her in the dining room, but did not find her there. He left the food there and went downstairs to look for her. He went into their room and saw her rummaging through the dresser. He shut the door and greeted her.

"'ey, love, I got the stuff that you wanted from the market." She turned around with a big smile on her face and ran to him; she jumped into his arms.

"Ooh, Jack, I have to tell you something!" she exclaimed happily.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering what on earth it could be and why she was acting so odd today… come to think of it, it wasn't just today… she'd been acting rather strange for a while now…

"Oh, oh, it's such good news!" she exclaimed.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Oh, it's so great!!" she cried.

"I'd love to share your joy, darling, but first you 'ave to tell me what it is." he said.

"Ohh… Jack, I'm pregnant!" she told him excitedly. He stared at her. She beaed at him, and he continued to stare at her, unspeaking. Her smile faded. "Jack, that's -- that's good, right? I-I mean, you're happy, aren't you?" He just stared at her. "Jack, I just said that I'm pregnant, don you even--" Just then, he leaned in and kissed her lovingly.

"Oh… really, darling?" he asked. "Really?"

"Yeah." she replied, grinning. He carried her over to the bed and lied down.

"When did you find out?" he asked.

"Just today." she told him. "Anamaria came in and talked to me. She said I'd been acting strange lately (I hadn't noticed it), and she asked me a few questions, and it all fits!"

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Pretty sure." she replied.

He sighed. "Ah, the Sparrow line will continue and a whole new generation of pirates will explore the wonders of the Caribbean… and more!" he said, dreaming about the future.

"Yes, but they won't ever break a law -- they will be fine, upstanding--"

"Pirates."

"Well… yes… well, pirate can mean a lot of things…" she told him. "Er, anyway, this is so great… What do you want it to be? A boy or a girl?"

"O' course I want it to be a boy or a girl!" he joked.

"Don't be condescending." she said, grinning. "Anyway, which do you want it to be?"

"I don' really care -- jus' happy, 'ealthy, an' look like you." he told her.

She smiled. "Same here, only I think it should look like _you_."

"'ow 'bout if it's a girl, it should look like you, an' if it's a boy, it should look like me -- that sounds logical." he said.

"That does sound logical -- I have to agree." she replied, smiling.

"'ave you told anyone else about this?" he asked.

"No, you're the first." she told him.

"I think the crew'll be pretty happy about it." he said. "Could this be the beginnin' of that happily ever after you asked me for?"

"I hope so." she replied with a smile and closed her eyes thoughtfully. He smiled and kissed her.

Life was good. Everyone was so excited about the baby. For five months, they spent their days thinking about the future and what to name the baby. They had completely lost track of time and outside life.

One evening, Jack and Celeste had gone to Will and Elizabeth's house for dinner and were just leaving when Jack remembered he'd forgotten to ask Will something and went back inside. Celeste decided to wait outside. She idly watched people walking by and noticed something. A woman who walked by looked awfully familiar…

"Mother?!" Celeste cried, and several people turned around out of the fact that she sounded so alarmed. The woman looked at Celeste for a moment and it clicked.

"…Celeste?" she asked.

"What on earth…?" Celeste began, baffled on what to say.

"Well, it's good to see you!" her mother said. "My, how you've grown! You're gorgeous! How are you?"

"HOW AM I?!" Celeste yelled. "I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FIFTEEN YEARS AND ALL YOU CAN ASK IS HOW AM I?!?!" Her mother didn't reply. "WHERE DID YOU GO?! AND _WHY_?!?!"

"Well, I went to France --"

"FRANCE?!"

"And I settled down there for a while…" her mother continued. "I just… wasn't ready for the responsibility of a family… and your father and I weren't getting along…"

"And so you just _left_?!" Celeste cried.

"Well, your father is a rich and powerful man." her mother told her. "I knew he would take care of you."

"Take care of me?!" Celeste exclaimed. "He married a witch and ruined my life!! Where were you when all that happened?! IN BLOODY FRANCE!!"

"Well, I, er, it's nice to see you." her mother said. "I thought about you a lot. I always wondered how you turned out."

"No thanks to you, my father, and my stepmother, I turned absolutely wonderful." Celeste said.

"You wouldn't have wanted to be raised by me."

"Well, anyway… how's your life?" Celeste asked.

"It's fine -- I came here because I've never been before. I'll probably be staying for a while." her mother replied. "I like it here. Just traveling, really. Why are you here?"

"Well, I sort of live here."

"Sort of?"

"Well, we move around."

"We?" her mother asked. "Oh!" she exclaimed, glancing at Celeste's stomach. "You're pregnant!"

"Took you this long to notice?" Celeste mumbled.

"Are you married?" her mother asked warily.

"Yes…" Celeste replied doggedly.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" her mother exclaimed happily. "What does your husband do?"

"He's… an… explorer of sorts…" Celeste replied hesitantly. "He's--" Just then, Jack left the house and went to Celeste's side.

Her mother gasped. "That's -- he's a -- pirate! Celeste get away from him -- that's Jack Sparrow!"

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow, Mother." Celeste corrected.

Her mother froze. "Oh, no… you didn't… he's not… oh, my…"

"Yes, Mother, he's my husband." Celeste said, pleased with her mother's shock. She looked up at Jack and took his arm. "Jack, this is my mother." Jack looked fairly surprised, remembering that she hadn't seen her mother in many years.

"And -- and--" her mother stuttered, gesturing to Celeste's stomach.

Celeste smiled and placed a hand on her stomach. "Sparrow." she said cheerfully.

"My -- my daughter married a -- hey!" her mother remembered something. "You stole my ship!" Jack looked panicked. "The Blue Rose!"

"Oh -- oh, yeah…" Jack stuttered. "Well, it er, it certainly 'elped me…"

"You'll be paid back in full." Celeste assured. "We have no financial problems."

"Well… thank you…" her mother said.

Jack cleared his throat. "Captain Jack Sparrow, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Her mother held out her hand and Jack kissed it. "I can promise that I will take perfect care of your daughter. I am deeply in love with her."

"Well… that's good to hear." her mother said.

"He's reformed, Mother." Celeste told her. "He gave up crime and alcohol and all of that. Commodore Norrington even pardoned him here."

"I'm glad." her mother said.

"So, did you remarry like Father did?" Celeste asked.

"Yes, actually." her mother replied.

"I thought so." Celeste added. "So, who is he?"

"His name is Sean Richardson." her mother told her. "He manufactures ships."

"Sounds interesting." Celeste said. "Does he make all the money you've always cared so much about?"

"Now, Celeste, don't be bitter." her mother scolded.

"Don't you _dare_ scold me." Celeste accused. "I'm not eight years old anymore-- you have _no _right."

"Celeste, it happened!" her mother exclaimed. "I did what I did and, honestly, it was better for you! It's in the past -- over and done! I can't change it, so why don't we talk like civilized people?!"  
Celeste snorted. "Just because it's over and done doesn't make it right."

"Why must you be so stubborn?!" her mother cried. "After all these years, you haven't changed one bit!"

"I have changed, Mother, for the better." Celeste stated.

Her mother sighed impatiently. "Don't even worry about the ship, Celeste, we have enough money that it doesn't really matter. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but you're obviously not willing to get over the past."  
"Just because it's in the past doesn't mean it's all alright!" Celeste exclaimed. "How can I forgive you for ruining my life?! You know, I blamed myself for years for you leaving! I thought _I _had done something wrong! Do you know what that did to me?! Do you know how much is mentally wrong with me because of you?! If you hadn't left, my stepmother wouldn't have destroyed me and all the other bad things that happened might not have happened!"

"No, other bad things would have happened." her mother stated. "I know what would've happened and you would've blamed me no matter what. I'm sorry, Celeste, but there's nothing I can do to change it. You can either forgive me or you can't." Celeste glared at her. "Fine. Well, if you decide to grow up and accept the fact that I did what I did, and act like an adult, I'll be here for quite a while longer. My ship is called the Golden Lily." She turned on her heel and marched off.

Jack and Celeste went back to the Pearl and down to their room. Celeste sat down on the bed and Jack sat next to her.

"Why does my family have to be so stupid?" Celeste asked, annoyed.

"Well, not all o' your family, love." Jack injected.

"Oh, I didn't mean you, Jack, you know I didn't mean you." she said. "My stupid mother…"

"Don' think about it anymore, darling." he told her, putting an arm around her. "It doesn' matter. Anyway, your _real_ family is the people who love you. Everyone on the Pearl is crazy about you -- all the family you need is righ' 'ere." Celeste smiled and leaned up against him. He placed a hand on her stomach. "Besides, in a couple of months, we'll 'ave everythin' in the world."

"You're right…" Celeste replied. "What would I do without you, Jack?"

He smiled and hugged her. "I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, too." she told him, and he kissed her.

The next day, Anne came aboard the Pearl to visit. She had gone to visit a relative of hers in America and had just gotten back the night before; she'd been gone for a whole year. Celeste and Jack came up on deck and greeted her. They talked about the goings on of everyone and everything when Anne noticed something (took her long enough).

"Oh, Celeste, you're pregnant!" she exclaimed.

"Haha, yes, I am." Celeste replied.

"How far along are you?" Anne asked.

"Seven months." Celeste told her.

"That's great." Anne said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Celeste replied and Jack put an arm around her. "Jack keeps telling random people that he's going to be a father. Half of Port Royal thinks he's daft." she said, smiling, and leaning up against him. She put an arm around him. He smiled.

"Well, I'm proud." Jack said. "Can't deny that." he kissed Celeste's cheek.

"You both excited?" Anne asked.

"Of course." Celeste replied. "And we couldn't be happier. Everything's perfect."

Just then, Gillette ran aboard, ranting about something.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked.

"There's been a murder!" Gillette exclaimed. "Commodore Norrington has been killed!"

"WHAT?!" Celeste and Anne cried, shocked. Gillette ran off the ship.

"I - I can't -- I have to go!" Anne exclaimed, running off the ship as well.

"Oh, no…" Jack mumbled. "I'll be back in a moment, darling." he said to Celeste and went to Gibbs at the other side of the ship to tell him the terrible news.

Celeste was stressfully breathing quickly and glancing around, horrorstruck. She grabbed onto the ship's railing, clutching her stomach, feeling a sudden, horrific pain.

"J-Jaaaack!!!" Celeste screamed. Jack looked over and, upon seeing her, he dashed over and caught her form behind just as her knees gave out.

"Darling, wh-what's wrong?!" he asked urgently.

"Ahhhh!!" she cried in pain.

"What is it?!" he asked, panicking.

"Oh, Jack, help!! It hurts!!" she groaned, still clutching her stomach.

Anamaria ran over to them. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I-I don't know!" Jack replied. "She -- she jus'--" he broke off. "Darling…" He placed a hand on her stomach worriedly.

"Get her into your room." Anamaria ordered very seriously. "Hurry." Jack picked Celeste up and carried her to their room; Anamaria followed. He set her on the bed.

"Ahhhh!!!" she yelled in pain.

"Jack, get out!" Anamaria ordered. "You'll just be in the way! Get out!" He left, feeling rather hurt, and stationed himself outside of the room.

An hour or more later, Sierra came downstairs. However long it was, Jack couldn't tell, it felt like he'd been pacing for days.

"Jack." Sierra said from behind him. "What's going on?"

"I-I don' know…" he replied, under more stress than she'd ever seen him before. "Celeste… jus'… I-I don' know…" He felt sick -- he was so worried. "It's… not fair… I've always been able to control any situation… that's why I don' ever get much stress on me… I could always do somethin' to turn the tables… but this… I can't do anythin' about it…"

"…You know," Sierra began, moving closer to him, "I could've given you a child, Jack."

"Not now, Sierra -- never, but _not _now."

Suddenly, she hugged him. "You shouldn't have to suffer like this." she told him. "I could--" He violently shoved her away; she hit the wall and fell to the floor with a thud.

"'ow _dare_ you do this now?" he asked venomously. "When my wife is in there with who-knows-what wrong with 'er. You 'aven' 'ad to 'ear it, Sierra… You 'aven' 'ad to 'ear it… I've 'ad to stay out 'ere an' do nothin' while I listen to 'er scream." Sierra looked at him guiltily. "Sierra, once an' for all, I don' love you -- I never _will_ love you. If you can't accept that an' stop thinkin' that you 'ave a chance, then I will make you leave this ship whether you 'ave a place to go or not." She stood up, looking rather hurt. "Celeste is all I care about, savvy?"

Sierra, with tears in her eyes, stood up, turned, and left. Jack was too worried about Celeste to care for one moment about Sierra.

A while later, hours, days, weeks, Jack couldn't tell, Anamaria emerged from the room, carrying something wrapped up in a large bundle of sheets and blankets.

"Is -- is she alrigh'?" Jack asked urgently. He'd been pacing the corridors all the while. Anamaria sighed and looked up at him, searching for words. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

She took a deep breath. "She's doing alright, but…"

"But what?!" he demanded.

"Jack… she lost the baby…" she said sadly.

Jack's heart sunk. "Wh-what…?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm so sorry…" Anamaria told him, tears in her eyes. "Er, go in and stay with her. I'll break the news to the crew…" she sniffled and hurried off.

Jack opened the door and entered the room. "Hi, darling." he greeted gently, closing the door. He lied down on the bed next to her.

"Hi…" she sniffled.

"'ow're you feelin'?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter." she said bitterly.

"Oh, darling, o' course it matters." he comforted. She began sobbing and he put an arm around her.

"I'm sorry, Jack! I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I'm just good for nothing! My stepmother was right! I can't do anything -- I'm a disappointment!"

"Sweetheart, don' blame yourself." Jack told her. He sighed. "Jus' get some rest, savvy?"

She sighed and snuggled up to him, sobbing into his chest. "D-do you still love me, Jack?"

"O' _course_ I do, love." he replied, sounding hurt. "I'll _always_ love you. No matter what 'appens." She continued sobbing. The more he listened to her cry, the more he was compelled to do the same. Tears formed in his eyes and he shut them tightly. She grabbed onto a lock of his hair for something to hold onto.

"B-but Jack… it -- it was _our_ baby…!" she sobbed. "Why is this happening to us?"

He didn't reply. She looked up at him -- tears were streaming down his cheeks. She laid her head next to his. Their tears ran together as they wept over their loss and tried to fall asleep. Jack hadn't cried this much since the loss of her sister and Celeste hadn't cried this much in her life.

An hour or so later, Anamaria peeked in. she walked over to the side of the bed and tapped Jack's shoulder. He'd been too troubled to sleep, but Celeste (who was quite troubled as well) was exhausted and had fallen asleep. Jack pried himself from Celeste (after he got her to release the lock of his hair), being careful not to wake her. He and Anamaria stepped out of the room.

"Jack," she began, "I want to have a word with you about Celeste."

"Well, first I 'ave to thank you for takin' care o' 'er." Jack told her. "'ow do you know so much about it?"

"I have five older sisters and had to deliver quite a few babies." she said. "Had to deal with a situation like this, too."

"Well, thank you very much."

"Of course." she replied sincerely. "Now, she'll need a lot of rest… and a lot of time to recover."

"'ow much time?" he asked. "I don' want her sufferin' for long…"

"This nearly killed her, Jack." she said. "It'll take a while for recovery."

"It nearly…?"

"Yes." she confirmed. "It could've easily killed her tonight. …You don't know how close you were to losing her… She was very brave, though. She held on long enough to pull herself through."

"But… she's goin' to be alrigh', isn' she?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, I believe she will be." she replied.

"Good." Jack said. "Thank you again, Anamaria, really."

"Of course." she replied. "She's a very strong girl -- she'll do alright."

"Aye." Jack agreed. "…I can't believe she 'ad to go through that… She's such a little girl…"

"Aye, she is rather slim, but… strong."

"Er, will she… er… can she still..?"

"I believe that she'll be able to have other children. This was caused by shock, so it wasn't a fault of hers, but it did to some damage. Still, I think it'll be fine. …I know you're eager to have a family, Jack, but don't jump in and go at it quite yet." Anamaria told him, smiling. "You guys do that, you know." Jack laughed uneasily, rather embarrassed. "It's really sweet that you want a family -- truthfully, I never expected it from you. I always figured you to be a Tortuga man, really."

"Why does everyone always say that?" Jack mumbled.

"Anyway, I'd say that she'll be recovered in about… two months." she said. "But, basically, when I say she can return to normal life, she can."

"Alrigh'." Jack said. "Erm, anyway, I should, er…" he gestured to the door.

"Oh, er… by the way… er… do you want to know what the baby would've been?" she asked. "I didn't think you wanted to see it, so…"

"No. No, I don' want to see it…" he said, his heart aching. "What was it?"

Jack went back into his room and shut the door quietly . He then got back into bed and, lying on his side, put an arm around Celeste. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, love, did I wake you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Where'd you go?" she asked, turning on her side.

"Oh, talkin' to Anamaria." he replied.

"About what?" she asked.

"Jus' thankin' 'er for 'elpin' you." he told her.

"Good." she said. "She really did help. I don't know what I would have done without her."

Jack smiled. He ran his fingers through her hair. "You look beautiful, darling."

"Oh, I'm sure." she said sarcastically. "After all that, I probably look like a sea monster."

"Well, you're a beautiful sea monster, then." he told her jokingly. She laughed. "But no, you do look beautiful. Nothin' can change that." She smiled.

Her smile faded and she sighed. "Jack… I'm sorry about all this… I know how much you wanted a child… so did I… I suppose I'm just not good enough--"

"Darling, it isn' your fault!" Jack insisted. "An' you _are_ good enough! It was just the shock of the news! Anamaria said so and I know so!"

She sighed and nodded.

"Besides," he continued, "Anamaria said that after you recover, we can try again, alrigh'?"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Celeste said.

After a few moments, Jack spoke again. "Are you feelin' alrigh', darling? Does it 'urt?"

"Well… yes, it does hurt… a lot…" she replied. "And I have a feeling it's going to keep hurting for a really long time… Not just physically, either… neither one of our hearts is going to heal from this very easily… and certainly not for a long time… and certainly not entirely…"

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." he sighed. "If there's anythin' I can do to 'elp -- anythin' I can do or get for you at any hour of the day, you jus' tell me, savvy?"

"Savvy." she said.

He scooted down and kissed her stomach.

"I 'ope you feel better soon, Princess." he told her, and moved back up to where he was before. "I love you, Celeste." he sighed and she snuggled up to him.

"I love you, too, Jack." she said, and he stroked her hair as she fell into an easier sleep.

Oh, so sad. Yes, so sad. Yes, i know. yes, so sad. Yes. Anyway, it gets better, so please dont abandon me! PLEASE REVIEW!!

I love you all!


	2. Chapter 2: You're Not Here

I'M BAAAAAAACK! Woo! Ok, finally, I have a reason to continue my life/update my fics. Same thing. I must give INFINITE thanks to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape who has inspired me to keep posting! EVERYONE SHOULD READ HER FANFICTION! IT'S GREAT! Anyway, THANK YOU, BUDDY! I also must thank DAFTLIKESPARROW who is always wonderful and inspiring - even tho her computer is evil and wont let her review! I love you, man! And i love your dog! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2: You're Not Here

The next day, Jack went into town (hesitantly, as he didn't want to leave Celeste) to get something for Celeste to eat. Whilst there, he ran into Celeste's mother.

"Oh, good day." she greeted. "Is Celeste here?"

"No." he replied.

"You should talk to her about forgiving me." she said.

"You know, all she wanted was to 'ear you say you're sorry." Jack told her. "She can't forgive you for what you did, but she can move on an' maybe start somethin' new."

She didn't reply for a moment. "…Say, are you alright?" she asked. "You don't sound like you did the other day."

"No, can't say that I am alrigh'. Can't say that I'll ever be the same, really." he said. "Commodore Norrington is dead. 'e's the reason Celeste an' I can stay 'ere."

"Oh, no - that's terrible."

"Yes, it is." he agreed. "Problem is, you shouldn' shock pregnant women."

"What do you mean?" she asked warily.

"Celeste lost the baby last nigh'." he said emptily.

Her expression faltered. "I want to see her." she stated.

"No, it's not a good idea righ' now." Jack told her. "She's under too much stress as it is. She's blamin' 'erself for the whole thing."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she blames 'erself for everythin'." he replied.

"She does?" she asked. "She never used to do that."

"Well, she does now." he told her. "From what I can tell, 'er stepmother drilled it into 'er."

She paused. "Well, when can I see her?"

"When she's ready." Jack said.

"And when will that be?" she asked.

"When she is." he replied sharply.

She sighed and nodded. "Well, I'm terribly sorry for your loss… If there's anything I can do, please tell me."

Jack nodded. "Good day, madam."

"Please, call me Jennifer." she said.

"Good day, Mrs. Richardson." Jack bid, tipping his hat, and left.

On his way back, he ran into the guards Murtogg and Mullroy.

"Oh, Mr. Sparrow." Murtogg greeted. "How are you today?"

"Could be better." Jack replied.

"Sorry to hear that." Murtogg said. "And how's that wife of yours?"

"She, too, could be better." Jack told him. "Er, what's bein' done about Commodore Norrington's murder? Is someone tryin' to solve it? My wife was very fond of the Commodore and would like to know anythin' about the case."

"Yes, a Mr. Flynn is being called to work on the case." Mullroy injected. "He was sent for immediately after we found out about the murder. Such a pity…"

"Aye, Mrs. Sparow and I owe Commodore Norrington our lives, really." Jack told them. "She's takin' it really 'ard."

Jack went back to the ship and returned to Celeste.

"I brought you some bananas." he told her, sitting down on the bed.

"I'm not hungry." Celeste stated.

"Darling, if you don' eat, you won' get better."

"I'm not hungry." she insisted.

He sighed. "Please eat somethin', sweetheart - you've 'ardly eaten anythin' all day."

"I'm not hungry." she repeated.

"You'll get sick if you don' eat." he told her.

"Maybe I deserve it." she said.

"Darling!" he exclaimed. "You do not!"

"…Well, I'm not hungry." she stated. "I want to see Anne. I want to know how she's doing."

"Why don' you eat somethin' an' I'll send someone to get Anne."

"Jack, if I eat, I'll get sick on you - you want that?" she asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry, love, I jus' want what's best for you." he told her. "Don't be angry at me."

"I'm not, Jack, I'm sorry, I just feel terrible and I don't want to eat - please don't make me." she said pleadingly.

"I'll never make you do anythin' you don' want to do, sweetheart." he told her. "I'll send someone to get Anne for you, savvy?" She nodded. "I'll be back in a few moments."

A few moments later, Jack came back in and sat down next to Celeste.

"Alrigh', Anne should be 'ere in a little while." he said.

"Thank you." she replied. He put his arms around her. She sighed. "What's wrong with me, Jack? …What's wrong?"

"There's absolutely _nothin_' wrong with you, darling, don' you dare think there is."

"Will and Elizabeth…" she said, thoughts just dawning on her. "I wonder how Will and Elizabeth are doing… They must be taking it pretty hard… they've known Commodore Norrington since they were young…"

"Well, I'll tell you what," Jack told her, "'ow 'bout tomorrow I get Will and Elizabeth to come an' visit you? 'ow does that sound?"

"That sounds good." she replied. "Yes, I want to see them."

"Alrigh', then, tomorrow." he sid.

She gazed into Jack's eyes, thinking. "You know, Jack, regardless of anything that's happened, I'm glad I became a pirate. I'm glad I left home and took a risk… I mean, for all I knew, you could've been a terrible pirate who could've done… anything to me. I figured if I was going to get raped or something, I could defend myself… wrong on that one…"

"'ey, Black didn' play fair." Jack injected.

"Yes, but who does?" Celeste asked. "Anyway, I'm glad I took that risk and just left. I was surprised, though, how very nice you and your crew were. Everything I'd heard about pirates had been atrocious - I didn't expect such nice people… And I hope you know that I wouldn't trade my life now for anything in the world, even with all the bad things that have happened… I love it and if I had it to do over, I would go through everything all over again."

"Same 'ere, love, same 'ere." he replied. "Except, maybe I would've tried to get to you a little sooner."

She smiled. She reached up and outlined the features of Jack's face with her fingers. "Everything in the world I need is right here."

"Likewise, sweetheart." he told her sincerely and kissed her.

Anne came to visit and she talked to Celeste grievously. She was very depressed about her uncle's passing and prayed that the investigator could solve the case and find Commodore Norrington's murderer. The next day, Will and Elizabeth came by and were grieving for Norrington as well. Unfortunately, they hadn't found out about Celeste's miscarriage until then, which heavily added to their grief.

Celeste and Jack spent every spare moment together for the next five weeks. Jack was hesitant to leave Celeste's side even to go to the market, so he sent someone in his stead. Usually, it was Anamaria who went, but she didn't mind. She knew how much Jack cared about Celeste and really thought it was rather sweet.

One day, a letter arrived for Jack. He read it with an expression of concern on his face.

"Who is it from, Jack?" Celeste asked him.

"Me ol' friend Rob Henderson…" he told her, "'e wants me to visit 'im. But… I don' know if I'm goin' to… I mean, 'e was a great friend o' mine, but… 'e doesn' live in Port Royal…"

"Where _does_ he live?" she asked.

"In a little town about a week's travel away." he replied. "All on land - can't get there on ship." Celeste didn't reply. "…I really think I should go…" he glanced at her. "I don' want to go, necessarily, but I really think I should…" Celeste remained silent. "I don' 'ave to, but…"

"No, you should." she told him. "You're wasting too much time with me - you should go."

"I'm not 'wastin'' time with you - it's not 'wastin'.'" he said. "I'd rather be with you than anywhere else in the world."

"Well, nonetheless, I think you should go if you want to."

So it was decided. Jack would leave the next day. He arranged a carriage and everything and was going to leave early in the morning. Unfortunately, he would be gone for three weeks. That night, Jack asked Celeste if she was really alright with him leaving. She expressed her true opinion.

"Oh, _please_ don't go, Jack!" she sobbed into his chest. "I don't want to be without you for _three weeks_! I couldn't stand going to sleep and waking up alone!"

"Darling…"

"Please, Jack!" she pleaded. "Don't leave me!"

"Baby, it's not like I'm never comin' back." he reasoned. "I jus' 'ave to go for a few weeks. I'll be back sooner than you know - I promise." he kissed her head.

"Well, I know, but… uhhh!" she whined.

"You know, I'm not goin' jus' to go." he told her. She looked up at him questioningly. "Rob's dyin."

She paused. "…Well, you didn't tell me that…" she said. "…Wow, I just whined like a complete fool… I'm sorry, you go, then. I didn't know. That's important and… you need to go. I'm perfectly fine wit it."

"Good." he replied. "I'm glad." She smiled and hugged him - only problem was, her smile was false.

"Celeste." Jack whispered in her ear. "Wake up, sweetheart, I 'ave to leave in a little while." She stirred sleepily while his words slowly sank in; when they did, her eyes shot open and she sat up. "'ey." he greeted with a smile.

"When do you have to leave?" she asked.

"In about a half hour." he replied.

"Oh, why didn't you wake me earlier?" she asked sadly.

"You looked so cute - I couldn'." he told her. She threw her arms around him and sighed.

"I'm going to miss this." she said, clinging to him tightly.

"Me too, love." he replied gently. He placed a hand on the back of her head and put his other arm around her. "You'll never leave my thoughts, Princess."

"And you'll never leave mine, Jack O' Lantern."

They stayed in each other's arms until Jack had to leave, and Celeste clung to him all the way up on deck.

"I'll be back before you know it." he told her. She clung tightly to him, desperately not wanting to let go. After a moment, though, she did let him go. "I'm goin' to miss you terribly, you know that, righ'?"

"I'm going to miss you, too.." she said dispiritedly. "A lot…"

"I love you, Celeste."

"I love you, too, Jack." she replied and they kissed.

A few moments later, most of the crew had gathered to see Jack off.

"Alright, alright, you don't want to chew each other's faces off." Sierra said, coming up to them.

Celeste ignored her and gave Jack a final kiss and then released him so he could bid farewell to the crew. After all the crew had said their goodbyes, Jack looked back at Celeste and tipped his hat. He turned and set off down the docks. Celeste watched him get into a carriage and drive off and watched the carriage until she could no longer see it

Jack, from his seat in the carriage, looked back at Celeste until he couldn't see her anymore. He leaned back and sighed.

Celeste returned to her room with nothing to do but read.

For a few days, Celeste kept to herself, since Jack had made Gibbs promise that he wouldn't let Celeste leave the ship as she, according to him, still needed to rest. One day, she sent someone to get Anne - she had a plan.

"Anne," Celeste said to her, "I would love to get out and do this myself, but Jack made the entire crew promise that they wouldn't let me leave the ship - he says I need to rest. And I suppose I do, but it's awfully annoying to stay out of the town's goings-on. So, what I'd like you to do is find Inspector… what was it? Flynn? Yes, Flynn. So, find Inspector Flynn and ask him about the case. I'm sure he'll tell you since you are Commodore Norrington's niece. So, just ask him what they know about the case and what they don't know."

"Alright." Anne agreed. "Why are you so curious?"

"Well, my uncle Arthur was an inspector." Celeste replied. "I actually know quite a lot about solving murder cases."

"Were there a lot of murders in Ruby Falls?" Anne asked. "I mean, it's such a rich town."

"Well, that was back when we lived in Rosalia." Celeste explained. "And there were quite a few murders in Downtown Rosalia. I learned a lot from Arthur and I'm actually fairly confident that I can contribute to this case."

So it was set. Anne would snoop around and get some information from Flynn while Celeste sat, bored, in her room.

After Anne left, Celeste went to her window and opened it. It started to rain. She breathed deep the fresh, crisp smell of the rain and thought of Jack… She stared out at the horizon.

'Jack… you promised you'd be back before I knew it… well… I know it…' she thought. 'So, please… come home soon…'

Over the time of Jack's absence, Celeste had constant nightmares and no one to comfort her. She would dream about Jack never coming back, or coming back and then leaving her for good. She would always wake up crying. The only comfort she had was Blackbeard and Shakespeare, their two stuffed bears. She was left alone too much, but the crew didn't do anything, since they really didn't know how Celeste worked; also, they felt it was better to leave her alone - they didn't want to disturb her. Being left alone was not good for Celeste at all. When she wasn't concentrating on a book, she was thinking about the baby and blaming herself or thinking about Jack. She remembered that Jack told her it wasn't her fault, but… how could she not think so? Thinking about it with no comfort from Jack, and thinking about Norrington's death, and Jack being gone, she cried herself to sleep every night. How could it not be her fault? How couldn't she be responsible? She was the one carrying the baby inside her - no one else had any control. There was no blame to be put on anyone except her.

Elizabeth visited often and Will as often as he could, but the time she needed someone was on those horrible nights. One night there was a thunderstorm. She wasn't scared of the thunder like she used to be, but missed Jack's warm arms to retreat into. She realized that she was being spoiled, whining over Jack being gone, but she needed him - she really did.

The separation hadn't been smooth for Jack either. He found his mind drifting off at times; many times while he was in a conversation. He talked endlessly about Celeste to anyone who even hinted to his home life. He, too, had gotten terribly used to falling asleep and waking up with Celeste near him, which was not easy to forget. He hated falling asleep and waking up alone. Being without Celeste was killing him - especially since he knew she was probably at home blaming herself over the loss of the baby. He knew she would blame herself and wished he could be at home to comfort her. He missed her more than he thought he would - he thought he'd be able to handle it - he was wrong. He didn't realize how much it hurt to be so far away from her. If he could just feel her hair or the touch of her lips… He wanted to go back home so badly, but he had given his word to his friend that he would stay for a week. He would be glad, though, when he could hold Celeste again.

Jack's absence felt like an eternity for both him and Celeste. The day he returned would be of great relief to both of them.

Celeste sat in the dining room, gnawing on a banana. It was evening and almost time for dinner, but she didn't want to eat - she was satisfied with the banana. Just then, Anamaria burst into the room.

"Celeste!" she exclaimed. Celeste looked up hopefully at her. "He's back." Celeste smiled. She jumped up and dashed out the door.

Jack was standing at the side of the ship, talking to Sierra.

"JACK!" Celeste cried.

"Princess!" he exclaimed, holding out his arms. She ran to his embrace and he picked her up and spun her around.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're back!" she told him, clinging tightly to him.

"I'm glad I'm back, too, love." Jack said.

"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed. By then many crew members had made their way over to greet Jack as well.

"I missed you _too _much, darling." he told her and they kissed.

"Oh, great, we're_ really_ going to hear it tonight…" Sierra muttered _very_ audibly. "Hope it doesn't carry to my room."

"Celeste heard this and pulled away, blushing. "How rude…" she mumbled.

Everyone welcomed Jack back home and eventually went back to what they were doing.

Celeste and Jack pressed the palms of their hands against one another's and she leaned up against him.

"So, were you a good girl while I was gone?" he asked playfully.

"Of course." she replied, smiling.

"Didn' see any other men, did you?"

"If you didn't see any other women."

He paused. "Wait… so… is that a no?"

"It'd better be a no!" she exclaimed.

He laughed. "Jus' teasin' you, darling." After a moment, Celeste spoke.

"Did you have a good time visiting your friend?" she asked.

"Not really." Jack replied truthfully. "I mean, it was good to see him again and I was glad I could see him before he died, but… I missed you so much, I couldn't concentrate much. …By the way, are you feelin' any better?"

"Yes, much." she replied. "Anamaria said that I can go back to normal life now."

"Tha's good." Jack said. "I thought you were goin' to go crazy jus' sittin' at 'ome all the time." he paused. "Gibbs!" he called and Gibbs came over to them. "Gibbs, you didn' let my wife leave the ship, did you?" Celeste sighed impatiently.

"Of course, not, Cap'n." Gibbs replied. Celeste smiled back at Gibbs so Jack couldn't see her. He _had_ let her off the ship. She'd begged to go shopping or just get out, really - she _was_ going crazy.

"See?" Celeste said to Jack as Gibbs walked off. "Your girl _always_ behaves."

"'e let you off, didn' 'e?" Jack asked.

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"Because my girl _never_ behaves." Jack told her, smiling. "She always does exactly what she wants."

"Why, Jack, you offend me." Celeste replied.

"You little liar." he said, smiling, and picked her up.

"I'm a liar and you're overprotective." she told him, smiling as well. She put her hands on his cheeks. "I missed, you, you pirate scoundrel."

"I missed you, too, you little brat." he replied, smiling still. She kissed him.

"Shall we go to dinner?" she asked.

"Good idea." he replied, and they headed off to dinner. They ate dinner in the galley since they hadn't prepared the dining room - they didn't know exactly when Jack would be back, after all, and Celeste wasn't eating on a regular schedule.

At dinner, Jack told everyone of his visit to his friend and how good it was to see him after such a long time. Rob was eternally grateful that Jack came, and Jack was glad of that and didn't really_ regret_ going, even if it was painful to be away from Celeste.

After dinner, Celeste and Jack slipped off to their room. Celeste sighed and looked up at Jack. "Don't ever leave me like that again." she told him. "You were gone too long. I didn't like it. When you think about it, we've never been apart for that long the entire time we've known each other."

"I know." he said. "I didn' enjoy it either, love, but I couldn' 'ave taken you with me."

"I know." she replied as they put their arms around each other. "What matters is that you're back now." She kissed him.

"Shiver me timbers, did I miss that." he sighed. She laughed. "Lot of other things I missed too…" he said, pulling her closer.

She smiled. "Like what?"

"Like… the Pearl, Will and Elizabeth, the-"

"Jack!" she scolded. "That's not what you're supposed to say!"

He laughed. "Well, anyway, actions speak a lot louder than words." he said and leaned in and kissed her. They both lied down and wrapped their arms around each other.

"I'm so glad you're home." Celeste told him, hugging him tightly.

"So am I, sweetheart." he replied, hugging her tightly as well. He ran his fingers through her hair. "An' now I'm never lettin' you go."

She smiled. "Whatever made you think I was going to let you?" He smiled as well and kissed her.

weep Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! Promise I'll post more soon! Luv Cara! REVIEW PLEASE!


	3. Chapter 3: Grief, a Plan, and the Inspe...

Hello, all! Gah! Why is she what she is! Sorry, I'm watching The Ring and there's so many things I'd like to know - AHH! Oh, crap. The phone rang. Why does the phone always ring a hundred times while I'm watching this movie! Hoooo... Okay, hello. Anyway, another chapter! I hope you all like it! Again, I must thank Johnny'shumiliaatedgrape for continuing to inspire me to update. hug She sticks with me even through all these sequels I write! It's just so wonderful! weep Anyway, also thanks to all me friends who are supportive and great like DAFTLIKESPARROW and others. Enjoy the next chapter!

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Chapter 3: Grief, a Plan, and the Inspector

The next day, Jack and Celeste were inseparable. They spent the day together, happy that they could be together once again. The day went by like lightning and before they knew it, it was night again. Celeste had a worried look on her face and Jack noticed it.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"What?" she asked. "What is what?"

"Somethin's wrong." he said. "What is it?"

"Nothing." she dismissed.

"It's somethin'." he stated. "Tell me what it is. I can 'elp."

She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. She paced over to the window of the room and rested her hands on the windowsill, looking out at the ocean, rain pouring into it. She bit her lip, thinking. Suddenly, she spoke her mind. "What would it have been?" she asked, pain in her voice.

"What would what 'ave been, love?" he asked patiently.

"The baby." she replied, still looking outside. Jack's expression faltered. "I mean, you know, don't you? Anamaria told you, didn't she?"

He hesitated. "Well… yes… she did…"

"Well, what was it?" she asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes." she confirmed.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She looked back at him. "Yes, I want to know." She returned her gaze to the ocean. "What would it have been?"

Jack hesitated, but surrendered the answer. "A boy."

Celeste painfully bit her lip and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry…" she said quietly. "All men want sons… I-I just…" she began to cry.

"Oh, darling-"

"I'm crying again." she said. "As always. Goodness sake, can I do anything else? I cry all the time, it must be _really_ annoying by now."

"Darling, stop it." he told her. He got out of bed and went to her. "Why do you do that?" She questioned him with her eyes. "You keep blamin' yourself for what 'appened an' you can't do that. There's nothin' anyone could 'ave done about it. You know it 'appens a lot, don' you? An' that it could 'appen to anyone, don' you?"

"But it didn't happen to anyone, Jack, it happened to me!" she cried, turning around to look at him. "Why is this happening to us?"

"You know, someone once told me that there can be no true happiness without sacrifice and suffering." he told her. "Wise words, I must say."

"My happily ever after?" she shook her head. "There's no such thing."

"Part o' gettin' there is keepin' faith." he said.

"How can I even believe in a happily ever after after what's happened to us?" she asked bitterly.

"Because I promised it to you." he told her. "An' I said that my girl always gets what she wants. An' if you want a happily ever after, then I'll give it to you."

"You can't just go to the market and buy one." she said bitterly.

"I'll get one for you." he told her gently. "I promise… It'll just take some time. What 'ave you ever wanted that I didn' give you?"

She sighed. She went over to the bed and sat down on it. "Nothing."

"Exactly." he said. "An' what makes you think we can't 'ave children at all?"

"Well, nothing…" she replied. "I suppose you're right."

"I'm always righ'." he stated, smiling, and got into bed. Celeste got into bed as well and stared up at the ceiling. Jack put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "Come on, love, put your mind at peace." he told her, wiping the tears from her eyes. "If you keep blamin' yourself, you'll make yourself sick." She didn't reply. "Honestly, love, why do you keep blamin' yourself when no one even blames you?" She still didn't respond. "Look at me, darling." She turned her head and gazed into his deep brown eyes. "I promise you'll get your happily ever after. I'll get it for you. Really, sweetheart, 'ave I ever broken a promise to you?"

"No." she replied. "Never. Not once."

"Righ'." he stated. "So, stop worryin' an' blamin' yourself. I promise you'll be happy again."

She nodded. "I love you, Jack O' Lantern."

"I love you, too, Princess." he replied, and kissed her. A tear ran down her cheek. "Please don' be sad anymore, love." he wiped the tear from her face.

"I wanted it so badly…" she said, crying.

"I know, love, I know." he comforted, pulling her close to him and rubbing her back consolingly. "But as I said a while ago, it's another obstacle we have to get over… We 'ave to go on with life."

"That's not a fair obstacle, Jack - it was a human life!"

"But you know we can't do anythin' about it." he said. "We can't."

She sighed. "I know."

"…Anyway, we can always take our mind off our troubles…" he told her with a smirk, attempting to cheer her up and distract her from her grief.

"Huh?" …Oh." she replied, catching on. "Er, yes, I suppose…" He kissed her and ran a hand up her chest, but she didn't return the emotion.

"Sweetheart, if you don' want to, jus' say so." he said.

She sighed. "I'm sorry… My mind is just so clouded right now… I just…"

"Time will go by, love, an' our 'earts will 'eal - I promise." he assured. She nodded and sighed.

"Just lie with me, Jack." she said. "Alright?"

"O' course, darling." he agreed, and she fell asleep in his arms.

The next day, Anne came to visit Celeste. She brought news of the Norrington case.

"Well," Anne explained to Celeste while Jack was gone, "basically, his throat was slit… so awful… and no one saw anything or anyone at all. There's not much known right now, really. Besides, Mr. Flynn won't tell me very much. I do have an idea, though."

"An idea?" Celeste asked.

"On how to get closer to the case." Anne said. "Mr. Flynn doesn't live here in Port Royal, he's staying at an inn. That must get fairly expensive as he's been there for a few months. So… you could invite him to stay here on the Black Pearl free of charge if you can help him with the case."

"Anne, for being only seventeen, you're brilliant, I hope you know." Celeste told her.

"I know." Anne replied, smiling.

"Oh, no, don't you pick up that cocky attitude of Jack's." Celeste warned.

"Oh, I didn't get it from Jack - I got it from you." Anne laughed.

Celeste laughed as well and then remembered something. "Oh, no… I don't know if Jack will want me to get involved in the case…"

"Why not?" Anne asked.

"Well, you know how he is." Celeste explained. "He can get a little overprotective. …Okay, a lot overprotective… I'll have ot tell him at the perfect time… I'll tell him… at dinner? No. …Ah, I'll tell him in bed. Yes, that should work."

"I don't need to know the details." Anne injected.

The next day, Celeste woke up to someone knocking on the door.

"Yes?" she called tiredly. It was Gibbs. The night before, she'd asked him to go out in the morning and see if they'd figured any more out.

"Miss Celeste? I talked to Mr. Flynn and they still don't know any more than before! Or, at least, not that they're willing to tell." Gibbs called through the door.

Celeste sighed. "Thank you very much!" She'd forgotten to tell Jack last night… She looked at Jack who had woken up and was looking curiously at her. She hesitated to tell him anything about it. "…Hi…"

"Hi." he replied. "You want to tell me what that was about?"

'Not particularly.' she thought.

"Well, I sent Gibbs out to ask the man who is investigating Norrington's murder if they know who did it yet." Celeste told him. "And… they apparently don't…" She paused. "Jack, I want to help with the case. My uncle Arthur was an inspector and I learned a lot from him. I know I can help. And I know you won't want me to do it, but I want to, so I'm going to."

Jack didn't reply for a moment, sort of stunned by all she'd just said. "Mm… darling, no, I don' think you should…"

"I knew you wouldn't…" she sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to do this." She started to get up.

He grabbed her wrist. "Love, they've got an expert on it - they'll take care of it."

She sat back against the headboard. "I want to help, though. I mean, he was such a good friend of ours."

"I know, sweetheart, but it's not your job to figure it out." he told her, putting his arms around her. He pulled her into a kiss.

"But, Jack, how can we just stand by and do nothing?" she asked as he kissed her neck.

"It's not our problem righ' now." he said. "It's bein' taken care of."

"Taken care of!" she exclaimed. "Like it's just another thing on the to-do list! We owe Commodore Norrington so much - the least we can do is avenge him!"

"I know, Princess, but there's nothin' we can do as of now." he said and started to nibble on her ear.

"Jack, how can we stay in here most of the day and have fun when there's a killer on the loose!" she cried. "Especially one who killed the man who pardoned us when no one else would even _look_ at us!" He kissed her deeply.

"Get your face off me - we don't have time for this!" she yelled, pushing him away. "Aren't we going to do _anything_ about this!"

"It's not our job, love." he replied, a bit disappointed.

"He was our friend, Jack, how can you not even care?" she asked. "Without him, we couldn't be living here!"

"Aye, but what can we do?"

"We can help!"

"Celeste, why do you think that everythin' in the world is _your_ job to fix?" he asked, irritated.

"Because no one else will!" she insisted. "He was our friend!"

"It's not our job!"

"But-"

"Darling, I don' care-"

SLAP! She slapped him hard in the face.

"When did you lose your humanity?" she asked bitterly. He placed a hand on his cheek and stared at her with a furrowed brow. "There is a killer out there who is going to get away with the murder of our friend. I'm not letting that happen." She was hurt deeply for hitting him, but didn't show it - the last thing she wanted was to hurt him, but she had to get him to see reality. "I'm leaving. I'm going to help solve that case." She started to get up, but he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly.

"No, darling, I don't want you to go." he stated.

"Jack, let go." she told him. He didn't release her. "Jack, let me go."

"No, I won' let you." he told her. "You need to rest."

"You didn't seem to think so last night." she said bitterly.

He paused. "That was a cheap shot, love."

"Fine, now let me go." She tried to escape his grip, but he would not let her go. She violently struggled to free her wrist, but to no avail.

"Jack Sparrow, you let go of me right this moment." she ordered venomously. He knew that when she didn't use the Captain in his name, she was angry and meant business. "Or I'll scream and have the whole crew in this room before you can even apologize."

"Darling, don' leave, please." he pleaded.

"Jack, let me go!" she yelled.

"No!" he yelled back. "Jus' listen to me!"

"Jack, let go! You're hurting me!"

He didn't want to release her just yet, but the fact that he was hurting her broke his heart and he let her go.

"I'm sorry, love." he said, almost panicking. "I-I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright…" she sighed, falling weak to his cuteness. "Alright, I'll listen to you - I _am_ being a little irrational." She sat more comfortably in bed, leaning up against the headboard and put her arms around Jack. "Now, why don't you want me to go?"

"Because, like you said, there's a killer on the loose - you could get 'urt…" he told her; he sounded so immature with a childlike reliance."

"That's never been an issue in the past."

"But… you've never been my wife before…" he said. "I don' want anythin' to 'appen to you… I mean… I need you to be alright because… well, I want you… and our baby…" She stopped, about to say something. "What 'appened was just a one time thing! It was a freak accident! You're fine! Anamaria said so! Don' think we can't 'ave one, 'cause we can!" She didn't reply. "Please don' get involved with this, love. I don' want you riskin' your life…"

She released him. "Don't think I haven't noticed, Jack…" He looked at her questioningly. "You don't look at me the way you used to…"

"Darling, what are you talkin' about?" he asked.

"Who are you kidding?" she asked, tears in her eyes. "You look at me the way you look at everything you're disappointed in."

He furrowed his brow. "No!" he objected. "Darling, no!"

"I didn't-" she sniffled, "I didn't mean to lose the baby, Jack…" she whimpered. "I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to…" She started sobbing. He put his arms around her.

"Princess, I don' blame you in any way." he insisted. "I promise you. It's not your fault, my love. Please stop thinkin' it is."

"Then why do you look at me like that?" she asked.

"Because I'm worried about you." he replied. "If you keep blamin' yourself, you'll make yourself sick."

They sat for a moment and Celeste overcame her tears.

She sniffled. "Why don't you come with me to work on the case?" she asked. "You always tell me that whatever your girl wants, she gets… If that's true, then help me solve this. Come with me and protect me if you have to."

He paused for a moment and then sighed. "Alrigh'… I suppose so… Shiver me timbers, Princess, you're as stubborn as the day we met…" She smiled. "Besides, how can I resist you?" He kissed her neck.

"I don't know - how can you?" she asked, smiling.

"Exactly - I don' think I can." he replied with a smirk and kissed her.

Later that day, Celeste and Jack went out to talk to Mr. Flynn about solving the case. They went to the inn where he was staying and talked to him. They explained their situation to Flynn and offered him to stay on the Pearl. Celeste said that she could help because she knew a lot about murder investigation. Flynn was reluctant at first, but decided to take them up on their offer since the inn bill was increasing and they were closer to Commodore Norrington's house than the inn was. He would come to their ship tomorrow.

The next afternoon, Celeste was in her room, making the bed, when Jack quietly entered and shut the door. He snuck up behind her and jumped onto the bed.

"AH!" Celeste yelled in alarm. Jack laughed. "Quit sneaking up on me like that! I'm going to have a heart attack one of these days!"

"Haha - sorry, love, couldn' resist." he said, laughing.

She sighed impatiently. "I'm going to kill you one day, you realize." She smiled.

He smiled as well. "As I said, I can't resist." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. "You know, we've got some time to kill. Until Flynn gets 'ere, we got nothin' to do… What shall we do to pass the time?"

"Grapes!" Celeste remembered.

"What?" he asked, confused. "That's not what I was thinkin'…"

"No, no, I bought some grapes at the market today. You have to try one." She squirmed out of his embrace and got up. She went to the bedside table, took a grape from the bowl of fruit resting on it, and went back to the bed. She lied down on her stomach next to Jack, leaning on her elbows. "Here." she popped a grape in his mouth.

"Mm, it's good." he said, chewing it up.

"Yes, they're really sweet, aren't they?"

"Not as sweet as you, darling." he said, and she smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot. I bought you somethin'." He got up and went to the closet. He pulled out a box and went back to Celeste. "'ere."

She took the box from him. "What is it?" she asked.

"Well, open it an' find out." he told her, lying down. She pulled the top of the box off and looked inside curiously.

"OH!" she exclaimed. "Chocolate! Oh, yum!"

"Not jus' chocolate, sweetheart, the best chocolate money can buy." he said.

"Oh, I haven't had it in so long! Thank you, Jack!" she exclaimed happily. "Marie wouldn't buy it, so I haven't had it for ages!"

"Well, I'll buy you as much as you want." he told her. She smiled and pulled a piece of chocolate out of the box and ate it.

"Ohh, that tastes good." she sighed. "Want a piece?"

"Sure." he agreed. She handed him a piece and he ate it.

"It's good, huh?" she asked.

"Doesn' taste as good as your kisses, love." he told her, smiling. She smiled and kissed him. "Aye, I definitely prefer the kisses." She smiled. "You've got a little chocolate on the side of your mouth there."

"What? Where?" Celeste asked.

"Let me get it for you." he said and made to lick it off.

"Jack!" she scolded, laughing, and pushed him away.

"No, wait, I've almost got it." he told her, smiling, and kissed her once more. They laughed. "You see, darling? I told you that you would be happy again. All wounds 'eal."

She smiled. "Yes, I suppose so." He put his arms around her waist and pulled her on top of him.

"You can't 'urt forever, love." he told her. "Besides," he began with a smirk, "now that it's been a few months, we can start workin' on another baby. 'alf the fun is gettin' there."

She smiled. "You're such a scoundrel."

"I know." he said, smiling as well, and kissed her.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Jack pulled away from Celeste long enough to yell: "Whoever you are, go away! It can wait!"

"Er, Captain Sparrow?" Flynn called. "It's David Flynn!"

"Give me a few minutes 'ere!" Jack yelled back.

Just then, Sierra joined Flynn at the door.

"Having trouble getting in?" she asked. "I have a pretty good idea what he's doing. The best way to stop it is to simply barge in. Observe." And she flung the door open.

"Sierra!" Celeste squealed, pulling herself away from Jack. "Would you quit doing that!"

"Er, excuse me, but I needed to speak with you…" Flynn said awkwardly.

Jack sighed. "Alrigh'…" he kissed Celeste on the cheek and got up. "I'll show you to your room."

"I hope you find your room acceptable." Celeste told Flynn.

"I'm sure I will." Flynn replied and he and Jack left the room. "You have a very beautiful wife." Flynn told Jack as they walked down the hall.

"I know." Jack replied. "She's smart, too. If she can't 'elp you with this case, no one can."

"I hope she can." Flynn said. "The case has come to a complete stop. I really need someone else's opinion to further progress." They entered Flynn's room and he set his suitcases down.

"Oh, by the way, I'm very protective of my wife an' if anythin' 'appens to 'er, I'll kill you. Good day." Jack said and left the room.

'I don't feel threatened… Not at all…' Flynn thought nervously and started to unpack.

* * *

Alrighty, hope you enjoyed the chapter! I write for you guys! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4: Disguises and a Helping Hand

HELLO! Alrighty, another chapter! Thanks again to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape! hug ENJOY!

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Chapter 4: Disguises and a Helping Hand

The next day, Celeste, Jack, and Flynn sat in the dining room, papers spread on the table, discussing the case.

"Alright," Celeste began, "who has seen the murder scene?"

"Well, the Governor, and myself." Flynn replied. "I made sure no one else had seen it."

"Okay… where was the weapon found?" Celeste asked. "It was a knife, right? His throat was slit?"

"Right." Flynn confirmed. "It was found to the left of the victim. He was sitting at his desk, apparently, when the attacker came behind him and slit his throat."

"Right. Okay…" Celeste said, thinking. "Well, were there any witnesses at all?"

"No - no one saw or heard anything from what I know now." he told her.

"Someone has to know something." she stated. "There's no way whoever did this could've gotten away with it without a trace."

Just then, Will and Elizabeth walked in.

"Oh, good day!" Celeste greeted cheerfully. "We were just discussing Commodore Norrington's murder case."

"Oh, can we help?" Will asked.

Celeste looked inquiringly at Flynn who looked wary. "This is Will and Elizabeth Turner - good friends of ours Commodore Norrington. They can help us." She turned to Will and Elizabeth. "This is David Flynn. The investigator on the case."

"It's nice to meet you." Will and Elizabeth said.

"Likewise." Flynn replied as Will and Elizabeth sat down.

She turned back to Flynn. "Anyway, I was thinking that perhaps we could get some information from someone who knows the crime that goes on here and knows the underbelly of the city, you know? There's always one guy who knows everything that goes on…" She thought for a moment and then looked at Jack, who had his arm around her shoulders. "Jack, you know some pretty terrible people - do you know anyone like that around here?"

"Hmm…" Jack began, thinking, not denying the fact that he really did know some pretty terrible people. "Well, there is - and I don' know 'im, I jus' know _of_ 'im - Lex Sheridan. 'e's kind o' a loan shark an' knows a lot o' criminals. Lives on the outskirts o' town, I think."

"Good!" Celeste exclaimed. "We should talk to him."

"Oh, wait…" Jack remembered something. "No, bad idea. Never mind."

"Why?" Celeste asked.

"'e doesn' let men into 'is mansion unless 'e knows 'em… Only women…" Jack explained. "I forgot about that."

"So, I'll go alone." Celeste concluded.

"Over my dead body!" Jack objected.

"Well, what are we going to do, then?" Celeste asked. An idea dawned on her. "Wait a second…"

"Oh, no, what are you thinkin'?" Jack asked warily.

"Well, why don't we just dress you and Will up like women and sneak you in?" Celeste suggested.

"NO WAY!" Jack and Will loudly protested.

"Oh, come on, don't be stupid." Celeste nagged. "It's obviously the only way to get in. If they know we're involved with the law, they'll never tell us. We have to sneak in."

After a while of debating, scolding, and threatening, Jack and Will were finally convinced into going incognito. They decided to go out to Sheridan's mansion that very day. Celeste was preparing Jack for the adventure, nearly laughing the entire time. Same with Elizabeth and Will. Celeste had decided that she would put a veil over Jack's face to hide his facial hair because he would NOT shave it off, nor did she really want him to; also, put a veil over his head to hide his dreadlocks. Flynn made clear he would not be joining them on this one and was to remain at the ship, studying his notes.

Celeste struggled not to laugh as Jack emerged from the closet in a red, flowing dress. She wanted so badly to poke fun at him, but he was in a very fragile state and if she said anything derogatory, he would probably be out of the plan for good. She put the veils in place and started to perfect his eye makeup.

"You know, Celeste, with my manly cheekbones, I doubt anyone will believe this." Jack told her.

"Jack, you have very feminine features, I hope you know." Celeste replied, concentrating on the makeup.

"Captain Jack Sparrow - feminine?" he asked incredulously. "Never."

"Whatever you say, my love." she told him, putting eye shadow on him. She finished with the makeup and looked him over. "Well, maybe the guards will have bad eyesight… Your face doesn't look so bad, but… you're really muscular… Ah, well."

He undid the side of the veil covering his face and kissed her.

She looked at him awkwardly. "I don't think I'm alright with this…"

"I'm still your husband." Jack said, a little irritated.

"But… you're my husband in a dress…" she told him. "It's just too weird…"

Jack was rather annoyed, but could see where Celeste was coming from. After a little while, Will and Elizabeth emerged from the room they were readying in. Celeste went out into the hall to greet them. Her eyes widened. Will had shaved off all his facial hair and Elizabeth had applied a lot of makeup to him. It was amazing how much like a woman he looked. She was losing her self control.

"Oh, I forgot something in the dining room - one moment." Celeste said, and ran at top speed up on deck. The second she was on deck and had shut the door, she burst out laughing. By the time she got over it, she was nearly in tears. She went below deck and joined them.

Just then, Jack came out of his room; he and Will stared at each other. They pointed at each other and laughed hysterically. Celeste and Elizabeth couldn't take it anymore. They laughed as well.

"Oh, oh, you look like such a woman!" Jack laughed, pointing at Will.

"At least I don't look like you! You look like a half-man half-woman!" Will laughed.

"Well, its good I look at _least_ half man!" Jack laughed.

"Now, children, stop it." Celeste injected, still laughing a little. "Don't fight."

After they got over their laughter, they set out on their way to the mansion. They got a carriage to pick them up and take them here. When they got here, they went up to the gate and were stopped by two large guards.

"Who are you?" one asked.

"I'm Celeste O' Lantern and this is my sister… Jacqueline O' Lantern." Celeste lied. "And this is Wilma… Mann." They all struggled not to laugh. "And her sister, Elizabeth Mann."

"And what are you doing here?" the guard asked.

"We were sent by… Captain Jack Sparrow." Celeste told them. "We belong to him, and he said something about 'sharing the fortune' or something… Anyway, we are to be taken straight to Mr. Sheridan."

"Hmm… well, I don't see why not." the guard said. "Go on in." He opened the gate. "Hey," he said to Will, "Why don't you just stay here with me instead?"

"Er, not thank you!" Will replied in an unnaturally high voice and rushed after the others, who were silently laughing at him. They entered the mansion and walked down a heavily guarded hallway to a staircase. They climbed up the stairs and were greeted by two passing guards. One of them stared at Jack. Celeste was almost certain they'd been found out and was about to reach for her swords when…

"Hey, sugar, I like strong women. What do you say you and I get a room?" the guard asked. Celeste would've burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter if the stakes weren't so high.

"No, I don' think so!" Jack told him in a high, squeaky voice.

The man shrugged. "Suit yourself." He and the other man continued on their way.

As soon as the men were out of earshot, Celeste leaned over to Jack and jokingly whispered, "You're not a eunuch, are you, sugar?"

Jack curled his lip at her in annoyance, but overcame it and replied, "You ought to know the truth, baby, nearly every night."

"Ha ha ha." Celeste said sarcastically.

They continued up the stairs and down a long hallway. Eventually, they came to a big red door and Celeste knocked. A few minutes later, a fairly good looking man answered the door.

"Yes?" he asked. He had short blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hi, erm, can we talk to you for a minute?" Celeste asked.

"Sure." the man replied. "Come on in. I'm Lex Sheridan, by the way."

They entered a richly decorated room. "Well Mr. Sheridan, I'm actually here because I wanted to ask you a favor."

"And that would be?" Sheridan asked.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about the Norrington murder." Celeste told him.

"Oh, no… and my men let you in?" Sheridan groaned.

"Well, that's why we had to sneak in." Celeste explained.

Sheridan walked over to Will. "Say, you're pretty cute - how about you and I have some fun and then I'll tell you what I know." Will looked horrified.

Celeste laughed and butted in. "Mr. Sheridan, I'm sure you wouldn't be too pleased. Just tell us what you know. Please."

"Why wouldn't I be pleased?" Sheridan asked.

"Because these two," Celeste began, pointing to Jack and Will, "are men. We had to dress them this way so they could get in."

Sheridan's eyes widened and he backed up. "Alright, well, not a _word_ about what I just said, got it? Not a _word_. Never leaves this room!"

"Deal." Celeste agreed. "Now, please tell us."

"Alright, alright." Sheridan surrendered. "Well, there was someone who thought they saw someone near Norrington's house… Evan Shore…"

"Evan Shore?" Celeste asked.

"Yes, but… I'm afraid he left right afterwards - didn't want to get involved." Sheridan explained. He stared at Jack. "…Do I know you?" he asked. "…Who are you?"

"Nobody." Jack replied.

"I'm curious - I won't tell you where Shore moved until you tell me who you are." Sheridan said. Celeste nudged Jack and nodded.

"I'm… Will Turner." Jack said.

"Jack!" Celeste and Will scolded.

"He's Captain Jack Sparrow, Mr. Sheridan." Celeste told him. "Lose your pride, Jack."

Sheridan laughed. "Oh, what great stories this will make. Captain Jack Sparrow in a red dress, impersonating a woman!"

"Lex Sheridan askin' Will Turner to go to bed with 'im." Jack taunted back. "That'll make an' equally impressin' story, don' you think?"

Sheridan thought for a moment. "Fine - nothing leaves this room then." A thought dawned on him. He stared at Celeste, but wasn't staring at her eyes.

"Excuse me!" Celeste yelled.

"Sorry, sorry, I mean no offense!" Sheridan exclaimed. "I was just making sure that you're really a woman."

"Yes, yes, I am, and Elizabeth as well." Celeste replied exasperatedly. "Anyway, where did Shore move to?"

"Oh, yes, Tortuga." Shore replied.

"Oh, no, not Tortuga!" Celeste groaned. She sighed. "Well, anyway, thank you."

They left the mansion and went back to the Pearl. They informed Flynn of what they'd talked about with Sheridan and he was pleased. They decided to go to Tortuga in three days; that would give them enough time to get ready to leave.

The next day, Celeste went out to the market with Jack and ran into her mother.

"Celeste!" her mother cried, rushing over. "Why didn't you visit me! Why didn't you let me see you!"

"Well, excuse me if we had more important things on our minds than _you_!" Celeste retorted. "I'm sorry, I should've visited, I only _lost a baby_!"

"You should've let me visit!" her mother insisted.

"No one was stopping you!" Celeste argued.

"Your husband could've gotten me to come!" her mother exclaimed.

"My husband was considerably worried about me and also had to leave for a few weeks to visit a dying friend." Celeste told her. "We had more important things to worry about."

Her mother sighed. "Well, anyway, I'm glad you're alright. And do you know who's here?"

"No… who?" Celeste asked warily.

"Cami." her mother replied cheerfully.

Celeste froze. "C-Cami…?"

"Who's Cami?" Jack asked.

"My sister." Celeste replied.

"Sister!" Jack exclaimed. "You never mentioned a sister! In fact, I thought you said you were an only child!"

"In my eyes, I am…" Celeste replied. "She's a horribly closed-minded person who is radically stuck in her ways… She left home many years before I did, but I still had to deal with her before that and when she visited - which was too often."

"Oh, she isn't that bad, Celeste." her mother objected.

"_You_ didn't have to live with her and get abused by her most of your life!" Celeste told her. "She hates anyone who isn't Catholic, and she _hates_ pirates!"

Just then, Cami walked up.

"Well, I'll see you later, Celeste. Jack." her mother bid them good day and left.

"Oh, no, oh, no!" Celeste panicked.

"Well, hello, Celeste!" Cami greeted in a fake sweet voice. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Cami, and you?" Celeste asked, strained.

"I'm just fine!" Cami replied. "And… who is this?" she asked, looking at Jack with a bit of disgust at his appearance.  
"My husband." Celeste told her.

"Oh… Er, Cami White. And you are?" Cami asked, and held out her hand to Jack, who politely kissed it.

"Captain Jack Sparrow." he said.

Cami froze. "You're surely not… related to the pirate Jack Sparrow, are you?"

"Cami, he _is_ the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow." Celeste told her. "Commodore Norrington pardoned him a few years ago."

"_Commodore Norrington_!" Cami exclaimed. "Oh, I expected so much more from him! He was such a good Catholic!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Celeste asked, annoyed.

"Well, Catholics are good people." Cami replied. "You _are_ a Catholic, aren't you?"

"Well, we have our faith, but we don't attend church services." Celeste explained. "We_ do_ have our faith, though. That's all God wants."

"You're not Catholic?" Cami asked, disgusted. "_And_ you're a pirate? I expected more from my own sister."

"You're right, Cami, and you know what? We're _Lutherans_!" Celeste taunted.

"WHAT!" Cami cried. "You're _what_! I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

"Cami, you're _so_ closed minded-"

"I'm right is what I am." Cami interrupted. "Oh, my sister and her husband are going to Hell! That's so sad!"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Celeste cried. "JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE DOESN'T THINK LIKE YOU DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE WRONG!"

"Celeste, you are too _young_ to know what you're talking about!" Cami scolded.

"Right, I'm only married and have lost a child - no experience there!" Celeste argued. "Besides, even when I was only seventeen, I was still wiser than you!"

"You've lost a child?" Cami asked. "That's sad, but… can't say I didn't expect it. I, myself, have five children."

"Oh, yes, such a pity I don't have those disgustingly humongous hips of yours, Cami, I cry over that one every night." Celeste replied sarcastically. Cami narrowed her eyes. "Those poor children must have rotten personalities."

"Do you really think you should sink so low as to resort to physical insults?" Cami asked.

"Yes, especially since I have nothing to be criticized for." Celeste replied snootily.

"Right. Because you're not too skinny at all."

"I'm just glad I'm not too fat like some sisters of mine - oh, wait! I only have one! It must be you!"

"You are a heathen, Celeste."

"You are an idiot, Cami."

"No wonder you never got along with Marie - you're jealous because she's a better person than you are." Cami said to Celeste. Jack's jaw dropped.

"No wonder you _did_ get along with Marie - you both have the personality of Julius Caesar." Celeste accused.

Cami scowled. "I can't believe you did this to your life." Cami told her. "You were always reading those stupid pirate stories; I knew they would affect you! Now you up and married one!"

"Yeah, Cami, I married for _love_." Celeste said. "So sad that you don't have the capacity to ever know what that is."

"Fine, I'm up for a round of insults - it'll be like the good old days." Cami told her.

"Cami, I've left the old days behind me." Celeste said. "I'm above this and I'm above_ you_." She grabbed Jack's arm and turned on her heel and walked off. Cami stood staring after them, fuming, and stormed away. Celeste and Jack went back to the Pearl.

"Wow, love," Jack said to her as they boarded the Pearl, "I knew your family was rather dysfunctional, an' that it was full o' a bunch o' batty gits, but… wow… That girl was crazy!"

"That's my sister: a radical in every way." Celeste sighed. "She'll never have a happy life living like she is." She snorted. "Serves her right. Ugh… radicalism in any form is a path to destruction… Why can't people see?"

"Because they don' listen." Jack told her.

That night, Celeste tossed and turned in her sleep, and Jack noticed. He placed a hand on her upper arm and rubbed it gently, attempting to console her without waking her. She eased a little, but it wasn't long before she started tossing and turning again. She mumbled inaudibly and swatted at something that was not there. Jack looked at her with a furrowed brow, worried. She shivered and he glanced over at the window, which was open. He got up and closed it. Just then, she put a hand over to Jack's side of the bed and noticed his absence; she squirmed about, let out a small scream, and woke up. He rushed to her and took her in his arms.

"Oh, Jack!" she sobbed. "I had the most awful nightmare!"

He kissed her head. "Tell me about it, love. You'll feel better."

She sniffled and cuddled close to him. She tugged at the sleeves of Jack's big white shirt she was wearing and began her story. "Well, there were these really big, scary monsters! And they - they chased us and… ate you! And I couldn't do anything! The monsters were so scary!"

He hugged her tighter. "Well, they _didn_' eat me - I'm 'ere." he comforted. "Besides, there's no such thing as monsters."

"Like there was no such thing as ghosts." Celeste added.

"Well, tha's different." Jack said. She sniffled and hugged him tightly.

After a few moments of silence, Celeste spoke. "I want a baby, Jack."

"I know you do, love - so do I." he replied.

"But it's taking so long…"

"'ey, I'm doin' the best I can, darling." he told her with a smirk, placing a hand on her lower stomach.

She smiled. "I'm sure." she said. She sighed and let the subject go. She slid under the covers and buried herself in them. "I hope I don't have anymore of those awful nightmares."

"Well," Jack told her, laying down as well, and putting his arms around her, "jus' remember that I'm 'ere an' that in real life -if there were such things as monsters- I would kill them if they got near you."

She nodded and snuggled up to him.

Jack ran his fingers through her hair, thinking. _People_ were the real monsters in this world. Yet, Celeste holds no grudge at all. She continues to help anyone she can (as long as they are good people). She refuses to judge anyone. After all that's been done to her, she still keeps herself so open to be hurt.

She looked up into his eyes and he saw the trust. She placed every single bit of her trust in him - and he would never break it. He placed a hand on her cheek and softly ran it down her neck to her chest.

How much she had been hurt… and being involved with this case, he had a feeling she was going to get hurt again. That's why he didn't want her to go. It wasn't because he was being a greedy husband who wanted his wife to stay at home all the time… he was terribly worried about her safety.

He held her close and they both fell asleep much more contently.

Two days later, they arrived in Tortuga.

"You know, love, you can stay aboard while we go into town - I know how you 'ate Tortuga." Jack said to Celeste, as they were about to leave (Flynn in company with them).

"No way!" Celeste exclaimed. "The last thing I need is some whore from your past coming up to you thinking you're not permanently taken!"

So, they went into town (Celeste on Jack's arm) and, as Celeste predicted, were approached by a woman with blond hair and blue eyes and a very low cut dress.

"Jack!" she cried, hurrying over. "Oh, it's been so long! How are you?"

"I'm fine, Tiffany…" Jack replied uneasily as Celeste glared at her, and he began to walk past her.

"Wait - where are you running off to?" Tiffany asked. "Why don't we have some fun for old times sake, huh?"

Celeste stepped in front of Jack threateningly. "I don't think so, Tiffany." she said venomously.

"Who are you?" Tiffany asked with annoyance.

"_Mrs. Sparrow_." Celeste replied toughly.

"What!" Tiffany exclaimed, panicked. "Jack, what is she talking about!"

"I'm a married man now." he told her.

Tiffany's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it! When all of us girls here are working hard, trying to get money where we can, you go off and get married! You were one of our best sources! You fed most of us for a good week or two!"

Jack avoided both Celeste and Tiffany's eyes.

"Fine." Tiffany said. "Well, if you feel like having a _real_ good time, you know where to find me." She looked at Celeste. "He'll never stay faithful - hope you know that. When he cheats on you, don't be surprised, and don't say I didn't warn you."

Celeste scoffed at her and pulled Jack along, Flynn remained behind.

"Say, do you know Evan Shore?" Flynn asked Tiffany.

Still angry, Tiffany replied: "Stupid pirates. Do _you_ want to have some fun?"

"Er, no…" Flynn said uneasily. "I want to know if you know Evan Shore."

"Maybe." Tiffany told him. "Got any money?" Celeste and Jack stopped and looked back at them.

Flynn pulled out ten shillings and handed them to her. Celeste, being out of earshot, mistook this action for something else…

"Mr. Flynn, what are you doing!" she cried, rushing over.

"What!" Flynn asked, startled. "Oh, no! It's not what you think! I was just asking if she knew Shore!"

"Yeah, I know Shore." Tiffany said. "Did him a 'special favor' just the other day, actually." Celeste curled her lip in disgust. "Lives up on Behr street. Just take Hodge down to Drake and go east all the way down until you get to Rafael." Jack and Celeste got completely confused by so many directions, but luckily, Flynn had whipped out a pencil and pad and was taking notes. "Take Rafael half way down north and turn left on Behr. He's number 214. Big brick house - you can't miss it."

"Thank you." Flynn said.

Tiffany nodded. "Be seeing you, Jack." And she walked off.

"Oh, no, you won't." Celeste mumbled. She took Jack's arm and they walked off.

After a long journey through the Tortuga streets, they finally arrived at Shore's house. Jack knocked on the door and a few moments later, a blond man opened it.

"Yes?" the man asked.

Flynn made his way to the front of them and spoke to him. "Are you Evan Shore?"  
"Yes…" he replied.

"Sir, we are from Port Royal - we want to ask you a few questions." Flynn told him.

"Port Royal?" Shore asked. "Questions about what?"

"Commodore Norrington's murder." Flynn replied.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Shore exclaimed. "I don't know anything! Nothing at all! Who said I did?"

"That doesn't matter." Flynn said. "Please, we won't tell anyone we spoke to you. We need to know. We heard you saw someone near Commodore Norrington's residence. Who was it?"

Shore sighed. "I don't know…"

"Oh, _please_ tell us!" Celeste pleaded with desperate eyes.

He sighed again. "Ugh, fine… But I don't have a lot of time to spare today, so it'll be short, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." Flynn said.

"John Ottoman." Shore reluctantly told them. "Norrington's butler. He was leaving the building. Then, a little bit later, Norrington's maid, Amy Lange went inside. She came out a few minutes later, screaming about a murder. I doubt she did it. I lived across the street and saw just that. Nothing more. Then a bunch of guards came and closed off the building. That's _all _I know."

"Thank you very much, sir, much appreciated." Flynn told him.

"Yeah, sure, good day." Shore rushed and shut the door.

"I wonder why he was so reluctant." Celeste said.

"Probably didn' want to get involved." Jack replied.

They went back to the ship and discovered that most of them were gone! The only people left were Will and Elizabeth.

"Where is everyone!" Jack exclaimed.

"They all went into town to get rum." Will told him.

"Oh, bugger…" Jack sighed. "They won' be back for a while, then… Wait, what about dinner?"

"Mr. Cotton left it in the dining room for you." Will said. "We ate already."

"Alright, thanks." Jack replied.

They went into the dining room and ate and finished early.

"Well… I guess we're off to bed, then." Jack said, taking Celeste's hand and heading for the door. "Night, Flynn."

Flynn nodded and they left.

"Jack, it's awfully early to be-"

"Everyone's gone, darling, 'ow many chances do we get?" he asked with a smirk.

She was about to reprimand him, but she shrugged. "Hmm… you're right… Sierra won't be banging on the door or anything to interrupt us…"

"Exactly." Jack said, and kissed her lightly.

Celeste tiredly woke up and yawned. She looked up at Jack, who was staring out the window and running his fingers through her hair.

"Morning, Jack." she greeted.

"Oh, 'ey, love." he said. "Sleep well?"

"As always." she replied, smiling. "Are we setting sail today?"

"Aye." Jack told her. "You know, we can let Anamaria take care of it… it'll give us time to jus'… stay in 'ere if we want to…"

"Oh, sounds good." she said, sitting up, and stretched.

Just then, Sierra knocked on the door. Celeste pulled the covers up to her neck.

"Who is it?" Celeste yelled.

"The King of Spain! Who do you think it is!" Sierra sarcastically yelled back.

"Well, what do you want?" Celeste yelled impatiently.

"I'm really tired of yelling, so I'm coming in!" she yelled back and barged in. "We're setting sail today, right?" Jack nodded. "I got in pretty late last night, but when I got back… ugh, you guys couldn't be just a little quieter?" Celeste curled her lip at Sierra's bluntness and rudeness. "Anyway, you going to be on deck at all today?"

"Maybe later." Jack said matter-of-factly, not caring what Sierra thought, sitting up, and leaning back against the headboard.

Sierra shook her head (and certainly wasn't complaining about the sight of Jack shirtless). "Celeste, seriously, as much as I can't stand the thought of you two breeding, you really need to get pregnant again. I miss those quiet nights." Celeste rolled her eyes and Sierra left the room.

"Anyway, where were we?" Celeste asked, climbing on top of Jack.

"Just about 'ere." he replied, kissing her. She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "But, honestly, love, if you don' get pregnant soon, we're goin' to know there's somethin' wrong with _me_."

She smiled and he kissed her neck. "Wait a second… was Commodore Norrington seeing anyone when he was killed?"

"What?" Jack asked, confused.

"Was he seeing anyone?" Celeste repeated. "I mean, a good motive for murder is jealousy."

"Well, I don' know if 'e was." Jack said.

"I have to ask Mr. Flynn." Celeste stated, starting to get up.

"Oh, love, you can ask 'im later." Jack nagged, pulling her back to him.

"It's going to bother me." Celeste replied.

"You can find out later, 'e isn' goin' anywhere." Jack told her.

She sighed. "Well, I suppose you're right." she said, and kissed him.

A few minutes later, Sierra barged in. "You've got to see this. Apparently - OH, GOSH, DISGUSTING!" she shielded her eyes as if she was being blinded.

"Ugh! Sierra! Would you mind knocking! Goodness sake!" Celeste cried angrily. Sierra turned around and Celeste hopped up and put on her dressing gown. "Now, what are you yelling about!"

"Somebody stuck this note on the helm." Sierra said, handing it to Celeste.

Celeste took it and read it aloud. "'Sparrows, you've got to follow my trail of clues to solve this crime. You're sticking your noses in, so I might as well help you get there. See you in Port Royal. Sincerely, 2.' 2? What's 2?" She looked at Jack and he shrugged.

"Well, thought you ought to know, anyway." Sierra told her. "Sorry I interrupted… Boy, am I sorry…"

"So am I." Jack muttered. Sierra left. Celeste sat back down next to Jack.

"What do you think this means?" she asked.

"I don' know…" he replied. "Suppose we'll find out when he leaves his 'clues' or whatever."

"Suppose so." Celeste said.

Later that day, Celeste asked Flynn about her theory of Commodore Norrington seeing anyone, but he wasn't to Flynn's knowledge. She was out of ideas now. They needed to talk to John Ottoman about it all…

That night, Celeste and Jack were getting ready for bed when a thought popped in Celeste's head.

"Jack…" Celeste said, sitting down on the bed next to Jack, "I want to ask you something…"

"Sure, darling."

"Well, erm…" she hesitated, "well, I was just wondering… if… Well, you've been with so many women… were they… I mean… were they… betterthan I am…?"

"Better?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"Like… you know… _better_…"

"Better?" he asked confusedly. "Better…? Ohhh, better… Like fun in the nighttime better."

"Yeah."

"Well, what makes you ask that?"

"I don't know… I was just thinking that… I mean… you must have sort of… compared me to them at some point, haven't you?" she asked him.

"Not really." he replied.

"Well, you didn't answer me - were they better?" she asked. "I mean, they were so much more experienced than me… You, of course, were my first, so…"

"You know, darling, it's somethin' totally different now." he told her. "It's such a different experience when it's with someone you love more than anyone else in the entire world. Truly, it's somethin' totally different."

"Really?" she asked. "You're not just saying that so you'll get something tonight?"

He laughed. "No, no, I'm not." he said. "You were actually a lot better than I expected."

"Oh… well… er…" she shifted uncomfortably, blushing. "Well, anyway, we shouldn't really be speaking of such things…"

"O' course not, we're wastin' time." he told her and leaned over and kissed her.

Jack walked up on deck the next morning, looking for Celeste; he found her. She was… WITH BLAKE! They were leaning up against the mast, kissing.

"Celeste!" he gasped. "What are you doing!"

She casually glanced over at him. She chuckled and kissed Blake again. "Jack…" she said. "I want someone a little more refined… who's not such a pirate."

"But-but-"

Celeste laughed and kissed Blake once more.

Jack gasped loudly and sat bolt upright. He placed a hand on his forehead and glanced around the room, realizing it was just a dream. Celeste sat up and put a hand on his arm.

"Are you alright?" she asked, worried. He didn't reply, just shook his head "no." "Did you have a nightmare?" He nodded. "You want to talk about it?"

"Mm mm." he said, shaking his head and lied back down, turning his back to her. Celeste furrowed her brow at his coldness and snuggled up to him.

"Well, it's alright now." she told him, running a hand up and down his back. "Whatever happened is gone now, and I'm here."

Jack stared blankly at the wall. What made him dream that? He'd never had any doubt in his mind that Celeste was faithful to him and would always be, so… why would that come up in his dreams?

She placed a hand on his arm and kissed his back.. "What was it? I'd like to know."

"Nothin' important." he said quickly. "Anyway, I don' want to think about it."

She nodded and snuggled up to him and they fell asleep.

The next day was spent wasting time until they got back to Port Royal.

That night, Jack had another nightmare - far worse. This time, Black was alive and he was chasing Celeste through the Pearl. The whole crew was gone and he couldn't do anything, his feet wouldn't move. She screamed for him to help her, but he couldn't move.

"Jack, why aren't you doing anything!" she screamed, running from Black. "Don't you love me! Why aren't you helping me!"

Black caught Celeste and shot her in the stomach. She fell and crawled over to Jack.

"Why didn't you help me?" she asked. "And our baby?"

Black shot her again. Jack was yelling and trying to move, but his feet wouldn't budge. He tried to reach for Celeste, but he couldn't. She looked weakly up at him.

"Jack… why don't you love me?" she asked. She coughed up some blood and stopped moving for good.

"Celeste!" he yelled, sitting bolt upright. He looked over at Celeste, who was now awake. She sat up.

"What's wrong?" she asked concernedly. He didn't reply. "Did you have another nightmare?" He nodded. She sighed. "I wonder what's causing these…"

"I love you, Celeste, do you know that?" he asked urgently.

"Of course I know that." she said.

"Really?" he asked. "I mean, do you know that I would do anythin' for you? That I would do anythin' to 'elp you an' die for you in any circumstance?"

She looked at him. "I take it this nightmare was about me, then."

"They're all about you, Celeste." he told her. "All of them. Tonight's was the worst, though…" He told her about the terrible dream. "I couldn' do anythin'! Darling, you know I love you more than anythin' else in the whole world, don' you? That I love you so much it 'urts? I would die a thousand times in the worst ways possible for you."

"I know you would, Jack." she said, hugging his arm. "I know you would."

"Love, I 'ave to ask you somethin'." he stated. "You're not still kickin' yourself over the baby, are you?"

Her expression faltered. "Er… no, of course not."

"Don' lie to me." he said.

"I'm not lying." she replied.

"I know exactly when you're lyin', love, don' lie!" he ordered. "Stop blamin' yourself! It 'urts _me_ to see you kickin' yourself over somethin' that is out of everyone in the world's control! Do you honestly think that the faith you taught me to 'ave is for nothin'? Do you honestly think He won' take care of us?" She didn't reply. "Darling, if you can't 'ave faith, then what kind o' hypocrite are you? You made me 'ave faith an' tha's what I did! Bad things 'appen! It's the way o' the world! It's another obstacle we 'ave to get over! If this is a test, then let's pass it - let's beat it an' show that nothin' can defeat us! We're Jack an' Celeste Sparrow! Nothin' can keep us from gettin' what we want! If we want to live 'appily ever after, then let's get it! We'll 'ave a family an' anythin' else we want! Nothin's goin' to stop us!"

She stared at him for a few moments, thinking. "You're right…" she said, laughing at herself. "I've been so foolish… I'm Celeste and… I'm a spoiled brat who gets whatever she wants. I want my happily ever after… and I'm going to get it." Jack nodded. "Thank you, Jack. For making me finally see."

He smiled. "I want my girl to be 'appy. Tha's all I want." They both lied down and Jack pulled Celeste close to him. "So, you're goin' to be 'appy, now?" She nodded. "Good." And they both fell asleep, much more at ease. Finally Celeste was able to live without the shadow her loss looming over her and constantly troubling her. Finally she and Jack could move on with their lives and start again. Finally she wouldn't remember that horrible day and what could have been every time she saw a child with their parents. A huge weight was lifted off of both of their shoulders that night. Not only was Celeste now able to work through her problems and memories with a new outlook, but Jack didn't have to watch her suffer. Hope was in sight again. They could be happy - no matter how long it would take, no matter what they had to do, they were going to be happy. No doubt about that.

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Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed it! One thing I'd like to ask of you readers! I have a Secret Window fanfic going called "Skye Blue." I am at a loss of reviews and would grandly appriciate some! If you would read and review, I would be most grateful. Please review this chapter, too! THANKS! I LOVE YOU ALL!

>JillValentine44 


	5. Chapter 5: Breakthrough

Hello, all! Another chapter! This one's shorter than the others, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks again to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape for reviewing religiously - I love you!

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Chapter 5: Breakthrough

The next day, they docked in Port Royal. Flynn shared his information about John Ottoman with Gillette and Governor Swann, who decided it would be best to detain him. They took him into custody and Flynn questioned him. There wasn't much evidence that said he didn't do it, but then again, there wasn't significant evidence that said he did. He said that he was just going out to the market and he hadn't seen Norrington that day at all. He hadn't seen anyone in the building at all, according to him. Unfortunately, Gillette was very angry about the Commodore's death and claimed that there was enough evidence to hang Ottoman. Flynn said he was being far too hasty, but Gillette had even convinced Governor Swann, and Ottoman was to be hung a week later.

That night, Flynn sat in his room, wondering what evidence he could present to show Ottoman's innocence, or, at least delay the hanging until they could be sure. He thought for a long time, taking notes in his notebook and looking over notes taken previously. He usually needed complete silence to concentrate, and the noise from Jack and Celeste's room next door wasn't helping his thought process. Eventually, he was able to sort of block it out, except when it got really loud in which case he would look disgustedly at the wall conjoining the two rooms. After a couple of hours of studying his notes, he reentered the conscious world and noticed that the noise was still going on.

"…Wow." he muttered and went back to his notes. He saw something… "Wait a moment… If… the left… and Ottoman… the… OF COURSE!" he cried and jumped up. "Oh, I must tell someone!" And, forgetting the noise next door, he ran outside and flung their door open.

Celeste yelled in surprise and buried herself in the covers. Jack looked extremely irritated at the interruption and glared at Flynn. Celeste sat up, keeping the covers up to her neck.

She cleared her throat. "Erm, yes, Mr. Flynn, what is it?"

"Pardon my intrusion, but I've found it!" Flynn exclaimed.

"What the bloody hell are you yellin' about?" Jack asked, now in very bad temper.

"Jack, watch your language." Celeste scolded.

"Sorry, love." Jack replied, but didn't really mean it.

"I mean, I've found out that John Ottoman is innocent!" Flynn told them.

"Wonderful." Jack said flatly. "Now, if you'll kindly _get out_, I would be-"

"No, Jack, I want to hear this." Celeste interrupted. "Continue, Mr. Flynn."

"Well, I was going over my notes and I analyzed the murder scene." Flynn said. "Remember how I said things were placed? Norrington's throat was slit, and the knife was to the _left_ of the victim."

"Must we take the long road on this story?" Jack asked, still angry.

"Jack!" Celeste scolded. "Now, don't be rude."

"And 'is interruption at the most _inopportune_ moment wasn' rude at all."

"Jack, be quiet." she ordered. "Excuse him, Mr. Flynn, please proceed."

"Well, as I said, the knife was found to the _left_ of the victim." Flynn continued. "Now, when a throat is slit, it is almost always from behind, correct?" Celeste nodded; Jack had gotten extremely bored with the conversation and had resumed to kissing Celeste's shoulders. "Alright, well, the murderer would've slashed from right to left if the knife was dropped on the left side." Celeste listened intently. "Slashing from right to left would infer that the murderer is-"

"Of course!" Celeste exclaimed. "Left handed!"

"Exactly!" Flynn confirmed. "I noticed upon my interrogation of John Ottoman that he signed a document with his _right _hand, therefore making it impossible for him to have committed the murder. I doubt anyone except people trained in this field would realize to place the weapon elsewhere to throw off an investigator. It is highly unlikely that Ottoman killed Commodore Norrington. I intend to point this out tomorrow to Gillette and Governor Swann."

"Oh, Mr. Flynn, you're brilliant!" Celeste cried. "That's absolutely wonderful! Oh, thank goodness you were able to figure it out in time! Poor Mr. Ottoman could've been hanged… Thank you for informing us. We - or rather, _I _am glad to know this information."

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Sparrow." Flynn replied. "And please excuse my indecorous intrusion."

"Yeah, yeah, leave already." Jack muttered, but Flynn didn't hear.

"Er, good night, Mr. Flynn." Celeste bid. He nodded and left.

"Finally." Jack said, pulling Celeste to him.

"Jack, you were so rude to Mr. Flynn." Celeste scolded. "You should never be rude to nice people like him."

"Well, 'nice people like 'im' shouldn' interrupt nice situations like ours." he told her, running his hands up her back.

"Oh, goodness, Jack, is this all you care about?" she asked. "Mr. Flynn just saved someone's life for heaven's sake."

"No, I jus' 'ate bein' interrupted." he told her. "I swear I'm gettin' locks put on these doors…" He kissed her.

"But, seriously, Jack… I'm worried…" Celeste said, resting her head on his chest. "The case has completely hit a wall… with Ottoman out of it, we really have no suspects…" she sighed. "We absolutely _must_ solve this case… We owe it to Commodore Norrington… There's no clues… no nothing."

"Don' worry, love, we'll figure it out." Jack said softly, holding her tighter. "Besides, we've still got that… '2' person who is supposed to 'elp us or somethin', right?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Celeste replied. She sighed. "I hope they can help…"

"Well, 'ey, life doesn' really 'ave to continue until tomorrow, does it?" he asked, tilting her head up so that she looked into his eyes and he kissed her. "We can forget about the world for a little while, anyway."

"I suppose…" she sighed. "If only you could be my world… I wish you could be the only thing in my life…" She placed her hands in his and kissed him.

The next day, Flynn, Jack, and Celeste went down to Governor Swann's to talk to him about releasing Ottoman. When they got there, Gillette was there talking to him already. Flynn explained how it was impossible that Ottoman murdered Commodore Norrington.

"Where is your real proof, Flynn?" Gillette asked. "James was my best friend - the best Commodore this town has ever seen. The only suspect so far is Ottoman and I'm not risking the chance of releasing him."

"'is name was James…?" Jack mumbled.

"Sir, I realize your concern but it would be wholly unethical to convict a man who has not been proven guilty." Flynn argued calmly.

"But he hasn't been proven innocent either." Gillette replied. "Look, I'll give you until Ottoman's hanging to prove his innocence. Whatever happens after, if you fail to succeed, is beyond my hands."

Flynn tried to reason with Governor Swann, but he trusted Gillette's judgment since he figured Gillette reflected what Commodore Norrington would've wanted.

"Alright, then…" Flynn said, as they exited the building. "We have to prove Ottoman's innocence… in a week…"

"We can do it." Celeste stated encouragingly. "We just have to - OW!" she cried. A fist-sized rock had flown out of nowhere and hit her in the back. "Oh, ouch! What the…!" She spotted the rock on the ground and picked it up.

"Darling, are you alrigh'?" Jack asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, it hurts a lot, but… this…" Tied to the rock was a note; she retrieved the note and dropped the rock. "It's from that '2' person!" She began to read it aloud. "'Sparrows and companion, it's obvious that you are blind to say the least. The criminal you seek is just under your noses. I can't help but laugh as I watch you stumble in the dark. I have eyes everywhere and always know what you are doing - I watch ceaselessly. Tomorrow another of my helpful clues will be placed by one of my eyes in a specific location. The clue lies within this note. The first line and an old sea-saying will help you to decipher my clue. Since I am gracious, I shall provide you with more hints to break my code: 7/18/10/45/18/10/22/32/53/1/3/18/42/1. Now, it's not that hard - brainless as you are. Don't waste your time. You have until tomorrow to find my next clue. Good luck to you. Your friend, 2 (a man of many talents).'"

"The man is dafter than I am for goodness sake." Jack said, looking over the clue.

"What could this mean…?" Flynn asked to himself.

"You know, I'm not so bad at things like this… maybe I can figure it out." Celeste told them.

"Well, I don't know, this is quite tricky…" Flynn said. "I mean, a woman's mind isn't necessarily-"

"What on earth do you mean by that?" Celeste asked, rather offended.

"You shouldn' 'ave gone there, mate…" Jack mumbled.

"Oh, nothing, just that-"

"You watch, Mr. Flynn, I'll have this figured out by tomorrow - you just watch." Celeste stated and they all went back to the ship. The rest of the day was spent thinking hard. Celeste studied the note and Flynn studied the case for evidence of Ottoman's innocence.

Celeste sat at Jack's desk, trying to figure out the note: she'd been studying for hours.

"Don' you think you should take a break, love?" Jack suggested. "You're goin' to go blind jus' starin' at that parchment all day."

"No, I don't want a break." she said blankly. "The… first line…" she mumbled and trailed off. She had taken many notes and was extremely close to solving it. '"Sparrows and companion, it's obvious that you are blind to say the least…"' she read. 'An old sea-saying… The first… and the numbers…'

"Of course!" she exclaimed. Jack jumped, startled, at her sudden outburst.

"What!" he asked urgently and went to her.

"I've figured it out!" she cried excitedly. He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder at her notes and put his arms around her. "Look, look! Alright, it says to look at the first line, right? It's the seventh letter of the first line - W - and then the eighteenth - I - and the tenth - N…" She wrote out the whole message and came up with the words… "Wind in the sails!"

"Brilliant, darling!" he exclaimed. "Absolutely brilliant!"

"And _that's _the old sea saying! Oh, I must tell Mr. Flynn!" she cried, stood up, and ran out of the room to Flynn's quarters. "I've figured it out, Mr. Flynn!"

"What! You did!" he asked in amazement.

"Yes! You see, it said to look at the first line! The numbers represent the letter in that line!" She went to him and showed him her notes. "You see? Seven was the seventh letter in the line!" She explained the process to him and he gazed at the parchment in amazement.

"I can't believe…"

"A woman figured it out, Mr. Flynn." Celeste told him smugly. "We really _are _equal, aren't we?"

"…I… I must congratulate you…" Flynn told her. "I must admit that _I _could not even figure it out."

Celeste smiled smugly. "But… what could it mean? 'Wind in the sails…'"

"Maybe the clue will be put in the sails somewhere… Yes, that must be it." Flynn concluded. "The clue will be in the sails… Rest easy tonight, Mrs. Sparrow, for you have solved a puzzle of great magnitude, beyond my reckoning. Well done, I must say."

"Thank you, Mr. Flynn." she replied and went back to her room. "Well, Jack, we figured that the clue will be in the sails."

"I think perhaps we should 'ave someone keep watch tonigh'." Jack stated. "Maybe they can spot who it is."

"That's a good idea." Celeste replied. "But who should keep watch?"

"I think Marty should." he told her. "'e's not easy to spot."

"Marty…? My, after nearly two years on the ship, I haven't learned the whole crew's names…"

"Marty… the… very shortest of the crew."

"Oh! Yes, of course." Celeste remembered. "It would be extremely kind of him to keep watch for us."

"I'll go ask 'im." he said, and left the room.

Celeste readied for bed and Jack returned a few minutes later.

"'e said 'e'd be glad to keep watch for us." Jack said, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Celeste said cheerfully. "We _must_ thank him tomorrow."

"Aye." Jack agreed.

The next day, they all went up on deck in anticipation. Marty said he hadn't seen anyone at all during the night, but they decided to check the sails anyway. They climbed up into the sails and looked for anything unusual. Finally, one of the crew members found a note tied to an arrow that had been shot onto the mast. They brought it down and handed it to Jack, who read it aloud.

"'Clever, Sparrows, clever. I was shocked when Mrs. Sparrow figured it out.'" he looked up. "'ow did 'e know _you _figured it out?" he asked Celeste. She shrugged. "'How do I know, you wonder? Well, I told you that I watch ceaselessly. I have eyes everywhere, remember? I know what you do always: every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Always. What's the matter, Sparrows? Bats in your belfry? I'll be watching. The clue will be in place tomorrow. Sincerely, 2.'"

"Simple." Flynn piped in. "'Bats in your belfry.' The bell tower."

"Oh… yes, of course." Celeste concluded. "We'll go there tomorrow then."

That evening, Celeste and Jack went to bed, awaiting the third clue the next day. Celeste climbed into bed and Jack put his arms around her and kissed her.

"You know…" he said, kissing her neck, "I feel like I'm forgettin' somethin'… Somethin' important… Is it Anamaria's birthday? I 'ope not because I forgot… Wait, don' tell me… I can figure this out…" He kissed her. "No, don' tell me, I know this… You know, I think I wrote it down - don' tell me!" Celeste looked somewhat annoyed. He reached over to the bedside table, opened the drawer and pulled out a small box. He climbed on top of Celeste and handed her the box, smiling. "Happy anniversary, Princess."

Her eyes lit up. "I knew you wouldn't forget! I knew you'd never do that!" she exclaimed happily. She opened the box and pulled out a bracelet strung with black pearls (how appropriate); she grinned. "Oh, it's beautiful!" He helped her put it on and she eyed it. "Oh, it's so pretty! I love it! Thank you, Jack!" She kissed him. "And I knew you wouldn't forget. I knew it."

He laughed. "You've been glarin' at me for three hours, love, waitin' for me to say somethin'."

"Well, I was just waiting, that's all. I knew you wouldn't forget." she replied. "And I didn't forget either. Tomorrow, I'm going to make you a big dinner with all your favorite food! I know how much you love food, so I figured you'd enjoy it."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful." he told her. "You know me like a book, darling. Me mouth's waterin' already. More reasons than one, I'm sure." he said with a smirk and kissed her. "Two years we've been married… seems like so much shorter. Happy anniversary, Celeste."

She smiled. "Happy anniversary, Jack. I love you."

"I love you, too, my Princess." he replied, placing his hands in hers, and kissed her.

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Hope everyone enjoyed! I'm still pleading with people to read my other fics. Specially Skye Blue and Flowers for the Sparrow and Big Star. PLEASE READ:'-( Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6: The Reveal

YAY! Another chappie! Thanks once again to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape! ENJOY!

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Chapter 6: The Reveal

The next day, they went out to find the next clue. They scoured the belfry and finally found it. Celeste read it aloud:

"'Sparrows, as much as I love making you all run around like my little puppy dogs, I must end this. In five days, a letter will be sent to the Black Pearl by one of my good archer friends. I know about Ottoman, and this will be one day after his scheduled hanging. From what I hear, unless you find the real murderer by the hang-date, he will be hung. Poor man. You Sparrows are so dense. Well, of course, I can't tell you anything about the murderer until five days from now. As you know, I watch ceaselessly. I know all that you do. How nice of you, Captain to give her a black pearl bracelet. And what a show afterwards - goodness sake.'" Celeste looked up at Jack, frightened. "This man is _so _sick… How could he know…?" She trailed off and started reading again. "'Well, anyway, five days from now, expect the meet the murderer you've all been searching so hard for. Is it really that hard? Well, I'll see you in five days, then. Sincerely, 2 (the murderer who can't wait to meet you).'"

"This is horrible…" Flynn muttered. "He's the murderer… and he's obviously not going to turn himself in until after Ottoman's hanging…"

"Yeah, the murderer an' all," Jack piped in, disgusted, "but… the man's spyin' on me an' me wife! That's disgustin'!" Celeste looked horrified.

"How on earth does he know…?" Flynn muttered. "Where is he watching from? Doesn't your room face the ocean?" Jack nodded. "Then… hmm… did you see any ships outside the window?"

"Well, there's always ships passin' by - we live in a harbor, you know - but I didn' notice anythin'… Well… truth be told, we didn' notice a lot goin' on outside…" Jack said with a smirk.

Flynn sighed in annoyance. "You didn't look outside once?"

"There wasn' anythin' more interestin' than what was inside…" Jack replied, still smirking. "Well, can you blame us? Goodness sake, it was our two year anniversary. We feel no guilt."

Flynn sighed in annoyance once again. "Well, there's nothing we can do until then. We just have to try to find some hard evidence saying that Ottoman is innocent…"

"Seriously, though, 'ow does this man know what we're doin'…?" Jack asked, confused. "'e's not part o' me crew… I know them too well…" Jack looked up. "We don' know _you_ that well, Flynn."

"Oh, Jack, don't be silly. Don't accuse him of being a spy or something." Celeste scolded.

"Well, 'ow do we know?" Jack asked. "'ow else could '2' know about all that?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure Mr. Flynn is not affiliated with him." Celeste defended.

"Honestly, Mr. Sparrow, I'm an investigator on the case - you know that." Flynn said. "Don't be ignorant."

"Ignorant!" Jack exclaimed angrily. "I'm bein' careful is what I'm bein'! I don' want a murderer's minion on my ship with my wife aboard! I'm keepin' my eye on you, Flynn. I see one thing that makes me suspect you in any way, an' you're dead. Watch it."

"Jack!" Celeste cried. "That's rude! He's _not_ a minion or anything like that! You're just being paranoid! Don't judge people!"

"I'm jus' bein' careful, love." Jack replied. "I care too much about you to not be careful."

"I know, sweetheart, but you can't just accuse people." she reasoned, taking his hand. "Especially people who have done nothing but helped us the entire time we've known them. …You apologize to Mr. Flynn."

"Do I 'ave to?" Jack asked exasperatedly.

"Do I have to treat you like a child… again…?" she asked staunchly. "Now, you apologize or no dessert tonight."

Jack wasn't sure which dessert Celeste was talking about. The food or the… well, never mind… but he wasn't about to run the risk of losing either one. He looked at Flynn. "Alrigh'… I'm sorry…"

"Apology accepted." Flynn replied.

"Good." Celeste stated. "Honestly, Jack, you act like such a child sometimes…"

Later, they went to Gillette and asked him a few questions. He said he knew Ottoman was guilty.

"I can see it now…" Gillette said. "Ottoman went in to give James his breakfast, casually set down the food tray on his desk, went to let in more light, pulled out a knife and slit my best friend's throat! He's as guilty as sin!"

Their attempts of convincing Gillette of Ottoman's innocence was still fruitless and they still didn't know anything more.

Later that day, they'd gone back to the Pearl and Celeste made a huge dinner for Jack like she'd promised. Jack thoroughly enjoyed the small feast as he was quite fond of food. After dinner, Celeste and Jack went to bed.

"That was some dinner, love, I'm absolutely stuffed." he told her.

"I'm glad you liked it." she replied, as they both got into bed. They put their arms around each other and she kissed him.

"Good nigh', darling." he bid her.

"…Good night?" she asked. "So soon…?"

"I'm so stuffed… I want to go to sleep." he said.

"Alright." she sighed. "Well, I'm happy you enjoyed it." She gave him a short kiss. "Good night, Jack."

The next day, Flynn, Jack, and Celeste went down to the jail and spoke with Ottoman. The poor man was hysterical - he was innocent and did not want to be hanged (come on, who does?). Celeste decided that she should talk to him since she was a bit more comforting than Flynn or Jack.

"Mr. Ottoman…" Celeste began calmly.

"Don't let them hang me!" he exclaimed, coming up to the bars of his cell. "I didn't do it!"

"We know, sir, we're doing all we can to help you - we really are." Celeste assured.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he cried. "I really didn't do it! It was just a normal day! I was going out to get some fruit for Commodore Norrington! I didn't see anyone at the house or anything at all, but I really didn't do it!"

"Mr. Ottoman, we know you didn't do it." Celeste told him. "We're trying to figure out who it was, but we wanted to come and ask you if you'd seen _anything_ that day."

"Nothing! Nothing at all! And that's the truth!" Ottoman cried and went off into inane babble about his innocence. Celeste comfortingly placed her hand on Ottoman's in attempt to calm him some. Jack glared.

"Mr. Ottoman, we are going to do all we can to prove your innocence." Celeste assured. He looked up at her, tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, madam - and sirs!" Ottoman cried.

They left the jail in no better shape information-wise than when they had entered. Except now they were going to feel horribly guilty if they couldn't save him. Jack didn't say much to Celeste on the way back to the Pearl and she noticed it.

"Jack, is there something wrong?" Celeste asked him when they got back to the Pearl.

"No, nothin's wrong." he replied sharply.

"There is to something wrong." Celeste told him. "Now, what is it?"

He looked at her, fairly angry. "You touched 'im."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Ottoman." Jack stated. She looked at him incredulously.

"The poor man was hysterical - what was I supposed to do?" Celeste asked. "He had to calm down." Jack glared suspiciously. "My goodness, Jack, I just touched his hand!" Flynn heard this entire conversation and was eavesdropping with interest, fascinated with Jack's odd behavior. Jack still glared suspiciously at Celeste. Flynn was surprised when Celeste suddenly smiled.

"What's funny?" Jack asked, irritated. She put her arms around his neck.

"You're so cute when you get jealous." she told him. He still glared suspiciously and she laughed. "You are honestly as daft as a melted banana, you know that?"

"What's your point?" he asked.

"My point is that I love it." she replied, smiling. "I don't know how I lived without your daftness in my life. Honestly, why are you getting jealous over something like that?"

"Well… I have a very beautiful and attractive wife - I got to be careful."

"Careful of what?"

"I don' want anyone stealin' you away." Jack told her, putting his arms around her.

"No chance, my Jack, no chance." she replied and kissed him.

"Human behavior is so odd…" Flynn muttered to himself.

The next few days were spent studying hard about what could save Ottoman. Nothing was discovered - Flynn needed more time. The day of the hanging, Flynn, Jack, and Celeste went down to the center of town where it was to be held. Maybe they could persuade Governor Swann to postpone this. Unfortunately, when they got there, Gillette was standing next to Governor Swann and shot down all of their pleads for postponement.

"Mr. Gillette, I know you're angry about Commodore Norrington's death, but you don't understand - we all are." Celeste pressed. "You can't just hang this man on circumstantial evidence." But no matter what they said, they were going to proceed with the hanging.

Celeste, Jack, and Flynn watched as they put the noose around Ottoman's neck. They read his charges and proceeded with the hanging. They pushed through the crowd to get closer. The lever on the trap door was about to be pulled, when…

"NO!" Celeste screamed, lunging forward to stop them, but someone tripped her and she fell over. She looked around and didn't see anyone who looked like they tripped her… Jack rushed over. They both looked up and the lever was pulled. "NO!"

Ottoman had been hanged.

Celeste looked shocked. Tears welled in her eyes; Jack helped her up from her fall and held her, keeping her from looking at the hanging Ottoman.

"I can't believe they did it, Jack!" Celeste cried. "They hung a completely innocent man!"

"There's no proof of that innocence." Gillette chimed in, approaching them.

"There was _so much_ proof, you closed-minded fool!" Celeste screamed.

Gillette raised an eyebrow at the fact that she would yell at the man who was to succeed Commodore Norrington. Jack realized what was going through Gillette's mind and spoke up.

"She didn' mean that - she's grievin'. Doesn' know what she's sayin'." Jack told him.

"I do to, Jack!" she yelled.

"No, you don', darling." he stated.

"Don't you dare say that!" Celeste cried, trying to get away from Jack.

"Sweetheart, you're hysterical." he told her in a "be careful" voice. Jack, of course, couldn't bring himself to apologize to Gillette, but knew it was unwise to let Celeste stay around any longer. She struggled, but Jack held onto her wrists. "We're leavin'." he stated, dragging Celeste away; Flynn followed. They got back to the Pearl, Celeste furious at Jack.

"HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE THAT!" she screamed as he let her go.

"You were goin' to get us in a lot of trouble yellin' at Gillette like that!" he pressed. "The man is succeedin' Commodore Norrington! He's goin' to look for _any_ _reason _to kick us out o' Port Royal, don' you see that!"

Celeste calmed down, seeing Jack's reasoning. "That stupid Gillette - he's going to be a horrible commodore. He's closed-minded and stupid."

"I know, love, but we still 'ave to act like we respect 'im if we want to stay in this port." he told her. "Don' want to live in the Tortuga port, do you?"

"No!" Celeste exclaimed, alarmed at the thought. She sighed. "We're going to meet the murderer tomorrow… Finally… I'm going to kill him."

"You mean we're goin' to capture 'im an' turn 'im in so 'e can be legally executed an' no blame is laid at our doorstep." Jack corrected.

She sighed in annoyance. "If I had my way… oh, never mind. I need to lie down."

"Doesn't sound much like a pirate." Flynn said to Jack as Celeste went to lie down below deck. "Much less the Captain Jack Sparrow I've heard about."

"Well, I got to make sure we don' break any laws 'ere - 'specially if Celeste an' I are goin' to 'ave a family 'ere." Jack explained. "I want my children to be raised righ'. Best way is at least _near_ a town… Tha's my top priority."

The next day, there was a note stuck to the mast with an arrow as promised by '2'. Celeste read it aloud:

"'Sparrows, my condolences to your friend Ottoman. Poor man. You couldn't save him. Anyway, won't it be great for you to meet the illustrious me? Yes, I thought so. Remember the abandoned house at the edge of town? Meet me there tonight. Alone. Just Sparrow and Sparrowess. If you bring anyone else, I shall know - I watch ceaselessly, remember? My friends carry guns and I will shoot whomever you bring with you. Don't draw attention to yourself. Dress nicely, Mrs. Sparrow - wear a pretty dress.

See you tonight, then. Sincerely, 2.'"

They decided that they had no choice but to go alone - but well armed. They were going to catch this man. They knew it would be dangerous to walk into his trap, but they had no choice.

That night, Jack and Celeste set out to the abandoned house. Celeste had strapped a pistol to her leg in case she needed it and they both had their swords. She hated walking into a fight wearing a dress, but they had to do what the note said. They wanted to catch him no matter what.

They reached the house and went inside. The floorboards creaked as they tread on them and the wind howled eerily through the windows. They continued through the house until they got to a large living room - there was no furniture… just a note on the ground. Celeste picked it up and read it.

"'Wait.' …Wait for what?" Celeste asked.

"Greetings, Sparrows." a voice said from the shadows. "So glad you could join me." He stepped out from the shadows and they laid eyes on the murderer.

"_You_!" Celeste exclaimed.

"Gillette…?" Jack asked incredulously.

Gillette laughed. "Told you - right under your noses the whole time. Pathetic. …Men!" Suddenly, five men emerged from various doors and grabbed Jack and Celeste. "Disarm them." They obeyed.

"No!" Celeste screamed. "Let go! Help!"

Gillette strolled over to a wall that harbored a painting of a man in uniform and a woman in a dress. He lifted up the painting and there was an indentation. Inside the indentation was a doorknob; Gillette turned it and the wall opened as a door. The guards disarmed Jack and Celeste as they struggled.

"Go." Gillette ordered and his men hauled Jack and Celeste through the doorway and down a set of stairs to who-knows-where; they were struggling like mad. When they finally reached their destination, Celeste's heart skipped a beat. It was a huge torture chamber.

"What on earth is _this_ doing here!" she screamed. "It's not civilized-" Just then, one of the guards hit her hard in the stomach and she yelled. They chained her to a wall. Gillette's men removed Jack's coat and shirt and chained him to the opposite wall.

"Well," Gillette began, "I can't believe you couldn't figure it out."

"Why would you kill Commodore Norrington!" Celeste exclaimed. "He was a _wonderful_ commodore!"

"Because you filthy lawbreaking pirates could just walk right in and live here completely free of punishment!" Gillette yelled. "What kind of commodore would pardon one of the most infamous outlaws in the Caribbean!"

"A good one!" Celeste cried. "We do good things for people! We've rid the world of two horrible, notorious murderers!"

"Be a dear and _shut up_, Mrs. Sparrow." Gillette barked. "You have no idea what you're talking about. One more word and you'll be sorry." He laughed. "That fool Governor Swann - believes whatever I tell him. …I'm going to make a much better commodore than James."

"Of course, murder is a great way to start." Celeste snarled. Gillette looked at her.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Gillette asked, crossing to her. "I said you'd be sorry if you didn't." She spat in his face; he wiped it away in disgust. "That was very disgusting. And you'll be sorry for it." He walked over to a fireplace and picked up a red hot poker. He went back to Celeste and held the poker close to her face; she trembled. "So beautiful." He looked her up and down. "You'll suffer another way." He walked over to Jack and held the poker up so Jack could see it. "Doesn't this look interesting?"

"No!" Celeste screamed. "Resorting to medieval devices of torture is purely barbaric and disgusting! Have you learned nothing from the past! Our ancestors from the 13 and 1400's realized it didn't work! It was sick and barbaric and - absolute heathenism!"

"But a hell of a lot of fun." Gillette added casually. He placed the end of the poker on Jack's lower back, ran it across, and seared the skin; Jack yelled in pain.

Celeste screamed and struggled violently to get free from her shackles, but they only cut into her hands.

After Gillette seared a few more places on Jack's skin, when he got tired of it. "Eh, it's lost its fun. Let's see what else is interesting here… You know, I think we'll draw and quarter you later."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! THAT'S AGAINST EVERY MORAL CODE IN THE BOOK!" Celeste screamed. "AND YOU CERTAINLY CAN'T DO IT LEGALLY AND GET AWAY WITH IT BY ANY MEANS!"

"Well, that's too bad because it sounds so fun." Gillette said. He turned to Jack. "Sound fun, Sparrow? Getting your intestines pulled out inch by inch whilst still being alive? Hm…" Jack didn't look at him, just kept his eyes closed. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

"YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH IT!" Celeste cried.

"Well, I'm going to kill you both, so no one will know." Gillette told her.

"No!" Jack gasped, in pain. "Kill me, not 'er! She's got nothin' to do with this!"

"But she knows what happened." Gillette said. "And - oh, just shut up. Both of you." He picked up a whip on the other side of the room and crossed back to Jack. "These are fun." Celeste cringed at the memory of her own whip experience. Jack just gritted his teeth, ready for whatever Gillette was going to dish out. "Now, if I use this, will you beg for mercy? Because that would be entertaining." Jack remained silent. Gillette shrugged and cracked the whip, lashing Jack many times. Celeste screamed and struggled for freedom the entire time. Gillette laughed. "This is so pathetic." He threw the whip to the other side of the room and unlocked Jack's shackles. Jack fell to the floor and Celeste, unable to fight it off, was sobbing.

Jack got up and staggered a little, trying to get away from Gillette. Suddenly, Gillette kicked Jack and sent him falling over backwards, shoulder-first into a chair with short spikes sticking out of it.

Gillette laughed. "You just keep moving around - you have to stop that. Ugh." He motioned for his men to chain Jack back up. While they did this, Gillette strolled over to Celeste. "It really is such a shame to waste something as pretty as you… maybe we can just keep you here. No one knows about this place."

With that, Jack struggled as much as he could and exerted the last of his energy, but to no avail. They chained him back to the wall.

"I'll deal with you later." Gillette said to Celeste, and went back to Jack. "Well, before I kill you, I want to make sure you get a lot of pain… so… hmm…" He pulled out a knife and put it to Jack's waist. He sliced a long cut from Jack's waist to his hip. But of course, these cuts weren't deep enough to cause any extreme results or prominent scarring, just pain. By the time Gillette finished with the knife, he'd cut Jack a great deal of times. Celeste was still screaming, sobbing, and struggling.

"Alright," Gillette began, "well, we might as well get on with the drawing and quartering thing. Just put him on the floor - it'll be easier. He can't struggle much more." They unchained Jack and threw him on the floor near Celeste. She'd cut up her hands terribly, but was finally able to free her hands from her shackles (they were primarily designed for men, so her wrists were smaller than the usual victim). She quickly went to Jack.

"Hey!" Gillette yelled. "How did you get out!"

She helped Jack sit up and pulled him close to her. She looked up at Gillette and scowled with tears running down her cheeks. "You barbaric animals!" she screamed. "This isn't retribution, this is disgusting madness! How could anyone do something so cruel! Why is it that human beings are the most inhumane creatures on this planet!" They started towards her and she realized something. She reached under the skirt of her dress and pulled out the pistol she'd strapped to her leg earlier. The guards had missed it.

"What are you going to do with that?" Gillette asked. "Shoot us? There's so many of us it won't matter."

Celeste glanced around. "No, but… I _won't_ let you torture my husband to death! It would be better if he went quickly! I'm not giving you the chance to take him from me like this!" She put the pistol to Jack's head. "If I can ease his pain, then, so help me, I will."

Gillette froze. This wasn't part of the plan. _He_ was going to kill Sparrow if it meant the death of one of his own men.

"Alright." Gillette said. "We'll make a deal."

"A deal?" Celeste asked, not moving the pistol from its spot.

"Yes." Gillette replied. "We'll let you go, completely free of all torture and probable rape, and you leave him here for us to take care of."

"Of course not." Celeste growled. "He means more to me than anything else, and if I have to suffer so I can ease his pain, then so be it!" She released the safety on the gun, ready to pull the trigger. Gillette panicked, but didn't move, for fear she would shoot Jack. Jack weakly squeezed Celeste's hand to get her attention. She looked down at him, tears still streaming down her face.

"Don' give up… darling…" he whispered, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth from being hit so much. She pulled him closer, his blood spilling over her.

"Don't worry, Jack, it'll all be over soon." she said. Gillette was rapidly trying to think of something to solve this situation, but coming to a blank.

"I… love you, Celeste…" Jack whispered.

"I love you, too, Jack." she replied emptily.

BANG!

* * *

THIS WAS SO TERRIFYING! Eek! I'm watching Signs (my personal favorite M. Night movie)! Im at the part where Merril is watching the news and they show the footage from the kids birthday thing where the alien just walks by the allyway. Yeesh, I have seen this movie a hundred times and I still get chills from that part. Huggles M. Night for his superb filmmaking skills WA!

"The police are here! I am with them! ...I am a police officer! ...We know about the hoax. We just want to talk to you. We already caught some of your friends. We took them downtownin a paddywagon! ... ..." I LOVE THIS MOVIE! so funny

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! CLIFFHANGER! Yes, I know! VERY cliffhanger. Dont forget to read the next chapter! It's the last one! PLEASE REVIEW! ;


	7. Chapter 7: Promise

"This is the end. I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. ...Goodbye." (-Bilbo, LOTR: FOTR)

This is the end, guys. I think I'm going to cry a little. I realize I left you with a cliffhanger last time, so I'll make a long speech short. _Hem hem_. I'd like to thank the Academy - oh, wait. Wrong speech. That's for later when I win my Oscar. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads my fics - I do it for you. Thanks to two people in particular: Johnny'shumiliatedgrape (thanks for always reviewing and being so incredibly sweet and encouraging) and DAFTLIKESPARROW (even though you cant review, you still inspire me to keep going! I'd die without you, sweetheart! Thanks! I love you!).

BTW, kudos to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape for figuring out the murder! DAFTLIKESPARROW did, too. You guys are so smart. I love you.

* * *

Chapter 7: Promise

Gillette stood in utter shock as he stared at the dead body. How could this have happened? The body of Gillette's head guard lay on the ground. Will, Flynn, Anamaria, and Sierra stood at the door, Will's gun was smoking, and Sierra and Anamaria were each aiming two guns at Gillette and his men. Many other crew members entered the chamber, and they all restrained Gillette and his guards. Celeste threw the pistol on the ground after resetting the safety and held onto Jack, who was badly hurt. Will rushed over and knelt next to him.

"Oh, my goodness…" he mumbled, looking at Jack. He looked up at Celeste. "Are you alright?"

"I'm _fine_, it's Jack that's hurt!" she sobbed.

"Alright, alright, er… Flynn!" Will called, and he came to them. "We need to get Jack back to the ship."

"Right - alright, then." Flynn replied. "Celeste, did Gillette do this?"

"No, Blackbeard did - of_ course_ he did this!" Celeste cried with sarcasm.

"It could've been one of his men, you know." Flynn said. "Anyway, we just need to ask you a few things first." Celeste sighed in annoyance. "I'm sorry, but I have to. So, er, did he do anything to _you_?" Celeste was about to yell, but he cut her off. "I realize he did more damage to Jack - I can see the damage. Did he do anything to _you_?"

"No, they just hit me a few times." she answered indifferently.

"Well, that's pretty important." Flynn told her. "That's illegal."

"SO IS KILLING COMMODORE NORRINGTON!" Celeste screamed.

"I know." Flynn said. "I also figured out that it was him before we left to come here."

"…How?" Celeste asked curiously, still holding onto Jack.

"When he was reconstructing the crime scene, he mentioned that Ottoman had put the breakfast tray down on Norrington's desk." Flynn explained. "No one had seen the crime scene except the Governor and myself. There was no way Gillette could've known about the tray. And other things. He's left handed, he pressed so hard to find the killer, he was going to take Norrington's place… it all fit. Too bad that didn't click until tonight." Celeste nodded. "Alright, then, we'll get Jack back to the ship now."

"Thank you." Celeste replied exasperatedly and Will, Celeste, and Anamaria all carried him back to the ship. They carried him to his room. Celeste went down to the cargo hold to get things to address his wounds with. Flynn and the crew had taken Gillette and his men to the jail and were going to speak with Governor Swann.

Before Will left the ship to join Flynn, Celeste asked him something. "Oh, Will, why isn't Elizabeth with you?"

"Oh, that's right - we didn't get the chance to tell you." Will said, grinning. "Elizabeth might be pregnant."

"Oh!" Celeste exclaimed. "Oh, that's absolutely wonderful!"

"Well, we're not sure yet." he replied, still smiling.

"I hope she is." Celeste told him. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you." he replied. She nodded and went on her way to the cargo hold. Once she got everything there, she headed back up to her room and sat next to Jack on the bed, setting all the things to address his wounds on the bed, next to her. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"…You wouldn'… actually 'ave… shot me… would you, darling?" Jack asked suddenly, still in pain. She blinked - she'd forgotten about that… "Honestly…"

"…Honestly… I don't know…" she replied. "I'd like to think I wouldn't have given up… and that it was just a bluff… but I didn't want them to hurt you any more… Anyway, you need to rest - don't talk." She cleaned his wounds and bandaged what needed to be bandaged. "Oh, by the way, Elizabeth might be pregnant."

"…Oh, really?" Jack asked.

Celeste nodded. "I'm happy for them." She lied down next to him and held onto his arm. After a moment of silence passed, Celeste spoke again. "We've been married longer than they have… and still… Oh, nothing…"

"You… wait, Princess… you jus' wait…" he told her. She smiled and nodded.

Over the next couple of weeks, Flynn had successfully proved that Gillette was guilty. He'd also found out (from Gillette in an angry rant) that Gillette had purposely ruin aboard the Pearl and told everyone of the murder when Celeste was pregnant; he wanted to shock her so that she and Jack wouldn't have any children.

Gillette was hung for murder soon after. Jack and Celeste attended the hanging and were relieved when it was over. On the way back from it, they visited Commodore Norrington's grave - Celeste had brought flowers to place on it.

"We've avenged you, my friend." Celeste said to the gravestone. "It's the least we could do after all you've done for us."

The next few months were spent recovering from all that had happened. Flynn had gone back to his hometown, grateful for Jack and Celeste's help. Without them, Gillette probably wouldn't have been caught. He promised them that he would write whenever he got the chance and would be glad to visit Port Royal again.

It turned out that Elizabeth wasn't pregnant after all, much to her and Will's disappointment. Other than that, everything was going alright. It seemed a lot like before… back when things seemed perfect. Things got even better when Celeste found out that she was pregnant again. Everyone was happy again like before. Jack decided that no one was allowed on the ship without his clearance for Celeste's sake. He preferred that she didn't go into town and when she did, he accompanied her, being watchful for anyone suspicious looking.

They had been talking about names for the baby one day and couldn't come to a decision. By this time, Celeste was seven months pregnant - she was wary because she'd lost her first baby in her seventh month.

"Hmm…" Celeste mumbled. "What was your mother's name, Jack?"

"Jacqueline." he replied.

"Wait a minute… Jack… Jocelyn… Jacqueline… All J's?" she asked.

"Aye. Family tradition." he told her. "Me dad's name was Jack. Hmm… me dad's dad an' mum were John and Jasmine, an' me mum's dad an' mum were Jacob and Jill."

"Oh… so I broke the tradition?" she asked disappointedly.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe it's time to start a new one. J's and C's now. 'ow does that sound?"

She smiled. "That sounds good." Just then, she started to feel dizzy… "Oh…" she said, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Darling, wha's wrong?" he asked worriedly, stepping closer to her.

"I… feel dizzy…" Celeste replied, her vision blurring. "I want to lie down…"

Jack bit his lip in worry and put an arm around her. Suddenly, Celeste fainted. Jack panicked: Anamaria had gone out… He picked up Celeste and yelled for Gibbs, who rushed up moments later.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"She got dizzy an' jus' passed out…" Jack rushed, panicked.

"Take her downstairs." Gibbs ordered; Jack obeyed and hurried downstairs. He set her down on the bed and was ushered out of the room by Gibbs. Normally, Jack would never leave Celeste alone in a room with another man, conscious or unconscious, but there were two people he trusted more than anyone else in the world besides Celeste and they were Will and Gibbs.

A little while later, Gibbs emerged from the room.

"She's got a fever." Gibbs told Jack. Seeing the look of panic on his face, Gibbs quickly added: "The baby's fine, and she's fine, we just have to make sure it stays that way."

Jack nodded. "But… she won' lose it, will she?"

"I won't lie to you - it's hard to say right now. It's fifty-fifty." Gibbs replied truthfully. "Just stay with her and make sure she stays fairly cool and stress-free."

"Alrigh'." Jack said and went into his room. He laid down next to Celeste and pushed the hair out of her face. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You'll be fine, darling." He ran his thumb across her lips. "An' our baby will certainly be fine." She still lied unconscious. He sat up and reached over to the bedside table. He grabbed a wet cloth from a bowl of water and wrung it out. He dabbed her head with it. "Oh, wake up, sweetheart…" He sighed and stared at her lovingly. He continued to dab her face with the cloth. After a few moments, he returned the cloth to the nearby bowl. He moved down and kissed her stomach.

"You're goin' to be fine, too, you know." he said into her stomach, lips pressed to it. "We're not losin' you… Not this time. …We're not losin' you… Jus' so you know, we love you infinitely already… I want you to know that… Your mother is the strongest woman I know. Sure, sometimes she 'as trouble even cuttin' 'er meat, but tha's not exactly the kind o' strong I mean. She's got the strongest mind o' anyone I've ever met - she's been through so much, but she still goes on with life… You've got to be alrigh'… for your mother, you've got to be alrigh'. An' for your father, too." He kissed her stomach again and sat back up.

He took the cloth from the bowl, wrung it out, and dabbed her head and cheeks again. Just then, Celeste tiredly blinked her eyes open and looked up at Jack.

"'ey, love." he greeted with a smile. Celeste smiled weakly in return. Then, suddenly, a thought dawned on her and her eyes widened. She put her hand to her stomach and relaxed. "It's fine, Princess. Gibbs says you 'ave a fever. The baby is fine, though, so don' worry. Jus' keep stayin' strong." Celeste nodded and took Jack's free hand. He dabbed her face once more with the cloth. "My angel…" Celeste smiled. He dabbed her neck and chest with the cool cloth. "I love you, sweetheart."

"…I love you, too…" she whispered and blacked out again.

Celeste got over the fever and was perfectly fine. A few months later, they'd been invited to dinner by Governor Swann; Will and Elizabeth would also be attending. Elizabeth, by this time, was pregnant as well. They accepted the invitation and went to the dinner. They were having a great time conversing with Governor Swann and Will and Elizabeth.

"So the new commodore is who?" Jack asked, halfway through the dinner.

"Chester Valentine." Governor Swann replied. "He's a very fine man - nothing like Gillette, I assure you."

Celeste furrowed her brow and tapped Jack on the shoulder. He looked over at her inquiringly and she whispered something into his ear. Just as Governor Swann was going to think badly about their manners…

"YOU'RE _WHAT_!" Jack exclaimed, jumping up, causing his chair to fly across the room.

"Jack, don't yell." Celeste told him.  
"I'LL GET THE CARRIAGE!" he yelled and dashed out at top speed, running into a potted plant in his hurry; Celeste laughed at his hysteria.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"Oh, I'm going into labor." Celeste replied matter-of-factly, putting a piece of roast beef in her mouth. The men at the table jumped in surprise and Elizabeth looked rather excited for her. "Thank you very much for the wonderful dinner, Governor Swann, and pardon us for leaving early."

"Oh, by all means, you can't help it!" Governor Swann pardoned. "Good luck." Will and Elizabeth agreed with this statement.

Just then, Jack rushed in and herded Celeste out of the room. "Good day!" Celeste bid, being hurried by Jack. They got into the carriage and hurried back to the Pearl. Jack harassed the poor driver the whole time, yelling at him to hurry and calling him names for "going to slow." Then, Jack would yell at him for "going to fast." ("What are you tryin' to do! My entire family is in this carriage, you madman!") Celeste apologized to the driver when they left and Jack helped her onto the ship as her pain came more swiftly.

Many, _many _hours later, Anamaria let Jack into the room and he rushed to Celeste, who was holding their new baby.

"It's a boy." she told him, smiling. Jack smiled widely, relieved that everything was alright. "What shall we name him?"

"Somethin' with a C." Jack stated. "Definitely." They thought for a moment. "Will's middle name is… Christopher, I believe."

"I like it." Celeste replied. She looked down at the baby in her arms. "Christopher… He's not crying much." She looked up at Anamaria, a little panicked. "That's alright, isn't it!"

"Of course it is." she replied comfortingly. "Just means he's strong like his parents."

Celeste and Jack sighed in relief and looked down at their son.

"Can I 'old 'im?" Jack asked, happier than he'd ever been. Celeste smiled widely and handed Christopher to Jack. Jack cooed and held his finger out to the baby, who took it.

"Oh, by the way, Jack…" she began a bit regretfully, "all those things I yelled at you through the door… I didn't mean them. I was just in a bit of pain."

He laughed. "You can call me whatever you want as long as I 'ave my son. Did it 'urt a lot, though?"

Celeste shrugged. "Whatever. It's all worth it." Jack handed Christopher back to Celeste and kissed her.

"I told you everythin' would be fine." he told her.

"Well, now I believe you." she replied, smiling. They gazed at their son, so incredibly happy.

"…I want another one already." Jack said, smiling.

"Hey, I need at least a bit of a break!" Celeste joked. "This has to be the happily ever after finally _really_ kicking in."

"It 'as to be." Jack agreed. "I _did _promise it to you. …Oh, 'ey, what about a middle name for Christopher?"

"Jack." she said.

"What?"

"Jack."

"What?"

"Jack! I want the middle name to be Jack!" Celeste exclaimed.

"Oh! Oh, 'ey, it 'as a nice ring to it." he replied with a smile. They looked down at their son.

"Christopher Jack Sparrow - we love you so much."

Two and a half deliriously happy years passed. Really happier than anyone should be. Christopher was the perfect child. They loved him infinitely. _More _added to the happily ever after? How can this be? After the two and a half years, Celeste was pregnant again. The pregnancy went very well and when she went into labor, they happened to be having dinner with Commodore Valentine, who turned out to be a wonderful man. Jack panicked just like the last time and they had to rush out.

This time, they had a girl and named her Jocelyn after Jack's sister, being Celeste's idea; Jack thought that the middle name should be Celeste and she didn't argue. They had a family and loved every moment of it.

One thing bothered Celeste, though… Her father really was a good man… One day she sat down and wrote a letter to him:

_Dear Father,_

_How have you been? I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch. I have a busy life. I hope Ruby Falls is doing well. I have to say that I'm doing wonderfully and have never been happier. My husband and I have settled down in Port Royal. We haven't settled down in the sense of buying a house - although we could afford to - we stay on his ship in the harbor. I suppose Marie told you who I showed up with the last time I saw her. Well, I married him. Yes, I married the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. But you have to understand that his reputation is inaccurate. He's a wonderful man and I love him so much. I know we've had our differences, but you're still the father I've always had - however tainted by stepmothers… Anyway, I have two children now. I'd like you to visit sometime. You shouldn't have to be a stranger to my children. I hope to see a letter from you soon. Please don't bring Marie if you come._

_Love, your daughter,_

_Celeste Sparrow_

_P.S. And they lived happily ever after…_

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Thanks again, everyone. I love my characters too much and have to keep them going. I love the ending to this fic - it makes me happy. Anyway, I'm working diligently on #5. I'm almost done with it, but not yet, so I won't be posting for a while, most likely. But I'm working hard for you! STICK WITH ME, GUYS! JACK AND CELESTE NEED YOU! And please read and review my other fics. They need you, too.

PLEASE REVIEW!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

"Now... bring me that horizon... ... Drink up me hearties, yo ho!"


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